


When Worlds Collide

by NimTheWitch



Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Smut, F/M, I'm terrible at tagging, Ice powers aren't all they're cracked up to be, Loki can be a dick, Mad Scientists, Magic Science, OC is in for a rough time, Paganism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-19
Updated: 2018-01-19
Packaged: 2019-03-06 18:25:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 67,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13417029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NimTheWitch/pseuds/NimTheWitch
Summary: We all know the theory, many universes stacked up against each other, but what if it was true? What if you could see into one of them? That's what one young scientist thought, but will his mistake prove to be the end of the world? Not if his assistant has anything to do with it. Based mid way through Thor The Dark World.





	1. Unexpected Results

James was toiling in his lab, as per usual. His assistant Riley was waiting patiently at her usual post by the fire extinguisher and first aid kit, making bets in her mind about exactly how long it would be before either, or both, were needed. She laughed quietly to herself as various incidents over the past seven years flashed through her mind, starting with the first day she'd ever met the man who had since become her friend.

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She had been running late, on her way to interview for the assistant position she now held. She hadn't had much hope for actually getting it, seeing as she was just a Statistics major in the masters program, but it had seemed easy enough and she'd really needed the money. It had been raining hard that day, not unusual weather for late April, especially in southern Louisiana, but Riley had forgotten her umbrella. As a consequence, when she finally arrived at the small warehouse like lab where her interview was taking place, she looked more like a sodden sheep dog than the confident young professional she had been when she'd left her apartment. James had run the interview himself, offering her a towel and some tea to calm her nerves. She'd refused, she'd never liked tea much, and they'd shared a laugh over coffee, turned out James didn't care much for tea either. It had been the first of many similarities they'd discovered over the course of the interview. The interview itself lasted almost three hours, though it could hardly be called that after the first half hour. They'd discussed everything from comics to the sci-fi shows they both enjoyed. By the end of it, he'd offered her the job and asked her out to coffee the next day. He'd given her his umbrella on the way out, joking that he wouldn't want to lose the best candidate he'd met to a cold.

From the next day on, they had become fast friends. It had been a little hard for her at first, getting used to his moods and strange bouts of what she liked to call “engineer rage”, but eventually they developed a nice rhythm. She would bring him a caramel mocha and two glazed donuts every morning and sit at the small table in the corner of the large room and eat her chocolate lucky charms while watching him set up his equipment. She had started out trying to get her food and coffee out of the way before heading into the lab, but that had proved far more problematic than she'd expected so she'd taken to keeping some of her dishes and food in the small kitchenette that James had at the lab. Since then it had been the same routine every day. She'd always had plans of bringing in appliances, a waffle maker, a griddle, maybe some cooking utensils and a hot plate, but she'd never gotten around to it. Besides, James used so much of the lab's power that any appliances she used would probably have tripped a breaker somewhere and wrecked one of his experiments, which would have sent him into a tail spin that would probably have gotten her fired.

It was about a year in when the first of many accidents occurred. James had been working on some kind of anti gravity theory, building a rig of concentric rings that a person could, theoretically, strap themselves into and have a kind of anti gravity field put around them. It hadn't come to anything, due in large part to the fact that the rig exploded during the first test run, but also, James had said, to a miscalculation in his equation. The explosion wasn't anything too damaging, mostly just a lot of smoke and a few flying screws, but the blast wave was enough to knock James back into his desk. He'd received three broken ribs and a few cuts and bruises from the blow, most of which Riley had treated herself while the ambulance was on route, but that was when James had decided to make her his official first aid assistant. It was added to her list of duties that she would treat all minor cuts, sprains, abrasions and burns that he acquired during all of his experiments. She'd refused at first, saying, truthfully, that she had no experience what-so-ever with first aid, but he'd insisted, saying he trusted her to know when professional medical attention was needed and when he was, to use his words, just being a baby about it.

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

And that was how things had been for the past seven years. She'd slowly become inured to all of his many moods, learned to ignore when he would shout at thin air like there was someone else to blame for the mistakes he made, laughed at all the small swears he'd invented for every knocked knee and stubbed toe. She'd learned how to treat everything from paper cuts to minor burns, how to wrap sprained joints and how to soothe the sometimes infantile whining that James would go through whenever he got injured.

All of this flashed through her mind as she watched him prance around his most recent creation. She'd never quite understood the concept behind it, something about the “mulit-universe theory” and breaking through walls, but she'd tuned him out when he'd started into the details of the science behind how it was supposed to work. She'd tried multiple times to explain to him that she understood numbers and numbers only, but he seemed to think that since she understood the statistics of the situation, she would also understand the quantum theory that sparked it. All she knew for sure was that he was about to flip the switch that would turn it on and she should probably be ready to put out any fires that cropped up after the inevitable explosion.

“This is it Rye, I can feel it! This one is gonna work!” He shouted from the other side of the room, rubbing his hands together as he eyed the giant lever he'd attached to the machine. He'd always had a fondness for the kind of machines you'd see in old monster movies, lots of Tesla coils and enormous switches that sparked as they were activated. Riley had a pet theory that they were part of the reason his experiments always failed.

“Oh most definitely, I can feel it in my bones.” She gave him a thumbs up, keeping her hand on the extinguisher. He seemed to miss the sarcasm that laced her words as he returned the thumbs up and heaved on the lever, setting off a shower of sparks and the hum of machinery coming to life. She braced herself, waiting for the boom and the shock wave, but she was met with nothing but the quiet whir of computers and the whine of metal on metal as the rings on the machine began to spin. It was set up like something out of a sci-fi novel, three sets of concentric rings, rotating so fast that the indentations in the metal seemed to blur out of existence. The first and third ring were spinning clockwise but the middle ring was spinning counter-clockwise, creating a kind of optical illusion of the diameter of the whole thing shrinking and growing as it spun. After a minute she began to relax, taking her hand off the fire extinguisher and edging slowly toward her chair, watching as James ran to the rings, shouting in victory as a small blue orb began to form in the middle, slowly growing until an image became visible.

“It's working! Riley, it's working! Aha!” He threw a fist in the air, doing a strange little dance that he'd coined his “victory dance”. He'd been saving it for the day one of his theories paid off.

“James, focus! What happens next?” She shouted over the growing roar of the machines. It didn't sound like something a working piece of machinery should make, but the scientist in the room didn't seem worried so she tried to put it out of her mind, focusing instead on the image that was slowly growing inside the ring. It seemed like empty sky to her, something that you could walk outside and see, but James was acting like it was some kind of ground breaking sky line that no one had ever seen before.

“Right, of course, thank you. Now we see where we came out at.” He started slowly toward the image, still growing, opening to reveal a strange sky line of beautiful buildings. They were of a construction she'd never seen before, all gilt golden spires and high arches. But the thing that really caught her attention was the flat, bridge like crystal that stretched through the arches toward the skyline. It was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen, shining in all the colors of the rainbow under a sun so big and bright that it didn't seem real. There appeared to be things flying in the air. They looked like old style ships, wings on the edges, curved hulls and no sails. But they weren't in the water, they were flying just under the bridge, the figures inside barely large enough to register as lines against the back drop of the sky.

James started shouting again, whooping and jumping around, calling out a name, though Riley couldn't hear it over the near deafening roar coming from the portal. He was recounting all the details he could see, telling her to write them down, though it was useless as he was doing that himself. He was talking about how clear it all was, like he could just step through, though he'd said that was impossible. That had been the one part of the explanation she had understood, mostly because it was the one part she'd been worried about. He'd assured her more than once that this portal was nothing but a window, a way to see into the other dimensions that existed along side their own while remaining safe from any environmental differences or threats that may be in them. 

She kept this in mind as she took a few tentative steps forward, her eyes glued to the small ship in the portal, mesmerized by the way it seemed to sail through the air, avoiding shots fired from another ship that was coming up behind it. 

“What is it? Where is this at?” She came even with James, her eyes moving over the scene as more questions began to form.

“I have no idea. It's some kind of Earth like environment from what I can tell. Blue sky, blue water, green leaves, all indicative of an oxygen rich atmosphere. Other than that, I got nothing. This is the fun part, just sit back, watch and investigate.” He pulled up a chair, sitting down with his notebook on his knees, jotting down notes almost constantly.

“Are they supposed to be getting bigger? I mean, they aren't gonna hit the portal thing are they?” She watched as the ship grew bigger, seemingly headed straight for them.

“No, they'll just pass right through it, they can't even see it, it's just an invisible little window, like a pocket dimension that only goes one way.” He gestured as he spoke, talking more with his hands than he was with his lips. But none of it seemed to put Riley at ease. She had a feeling, something she'd learned to trust a long time ago, that something was about to happen. It was this feeling that propelled her back to the fire extinguisher and first aid kit, still set out on the table. 

As she opened her mouth to voice her concern to her friend, a kind of ringing began, just on the edge of her hearing, growing slowly until both James and Riley were doubled over, backing away from the portal, hands over their ears as if that could stop the pain. It was enough to have tears streaming from her eyes, her own cries added to the din. It rose to a fever pitch as the vessel in the portal drew even with the it and then the world exploded around her. It was like a million windows shattered all around her at the same time, showering her with the fragile, high pitched sound of shards exploding outward as the ship flew straight through the set of rings. The rings themselves, true to form, followed suit and promptly flew apart, scattering metal and plastic all over the room. The last thing Riley knew, before darkness took her, was the sound of metal grinding against concrete and the sound of four other bodies dropping to the floor.

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

“Answer me mortal. Where are we?” The shouting was what drew her out of her unconscious, where she'd been happily working her way through a mountain of nice boring paper work. She was greeted with much more light than she was used to in the lab and the sound of booted feet coming close to her.

“Brother, calm yourself, there is another over here.” This voice was different than the one who had been shouting. It sounded kinder, though no less foreign. She felt arms wrap around her knees and shoulders, lifting her from the floor and onto the table. A face swam into her vision, blurry at first. She saw a tousle of blonde hair and, as her vision began to sharpen, very handsome features. “Ah, you are awake, good.” He stepped away, letting her sit up on her own.

“What happened?” She shook her head, trying to clear it of the fog that remained. 

“Riley, are you ok?” James appeared at her side, followed closely by another stranger, this one almost the exact opposite of the blonde who'd put her on the table. He was still handsome, more so than the blonde, but he seemed harder, colder, his eyes didn't have the same kindness in them that the blonde one had and his hair was much darker, a shade of black she'd only ever seen on the goth kids she used to see around campus.

“Yeah, I think so, just kinda fuzzy. What happened? Who are these guys? Why are you bleeding?” She reached out to his face, wiping blood from the sides of his face.

“Enough! Explain, now.” The black haired one pulled James around to face him.

“I...I don't know. None of this makes sense. This shouldn't have happened. We had a window into your world, but it was just a window. Nothing should've been able to come through.” He babbled out all the relevant facts he could, holding his hands up in the air like that would defuse the whole situation.

“Window, what do you mean?” A woman's voice piped up from just out of Riley's field of vision, drawing her gaze to a slim young woman standing in the wreckage of the ship she'd been admiring in the portal. She seemed like she'd been recently ill, or still was. She was pale and her eyes were shining feverishly.

“Well, it's a theory I've been working on. It's based on the Multi-verse theory. I built a machine that could create kind of a pocket dimension, a one way window into other universes. It was supposed to be completely nonexistent on your end. Something happened that made it a door, but the portal wasn't meant to act that way.” He took the explanation as an excuse to move away from the still glowering brunette that was looking ever more murderous.

“Wait. So you actually built an interdimensional portal? How?” The woman seemed to perk up at his explanation, stepping out of the ship and walking toward him. As they neared each other, the ringing resumed, skipping over the build up, exploding in Riley's mind as the portal appeared in the remains of the rings, showing another area, desolate and barren of any sign of life, save for two figures. One was pale, skin white as a sheet of paper, wearing black armor. The other was monstrous, taller than any human she'd ever seen and black as volcanic rock. His skin seemed to have almost the same texture as well, seeming more like stone than flesh. They were looking at the portal, walking toward it as though they meant to pass straight through. The pale one got close enough that Riley could see his eyes, staring into her soul with a kind of hatred that made her blood run cold. He reached out, inches from her world as the portal snapped shut again, taking the ringing with it.

“James, what the hell was that? I thought the damn thing was broken.” She tried to keep the anger out of her voice, knowing that he would be shaken already, but this had never been in her job description, and friend or not, she was not prepared to handle this kind of thing.

“I have no idea. The portal shouldn't be able to open without the apparatus to power it.” He turned to her, his whole body shaking, his eyes already swimming with unshed tears.

“Unless the tear you made is unstable.” The woman was at his side in an instant. He turned to her, his eyes taking on the brightness she'd seen whenever he was around another scientist and the conversation dissolved into something she couldn't hope to follow.

“Oh great.” Riley slid forward, stepping down onto the floor and checking her balance before moving to the small fridge. She pulled out a bottle of Dr. Pepper, leaning against the counter with a sigh. “So, while they work themselves up, how about some details? What happened on your end?” She directed her questions to the blonde one, not wanting to provoke the brunette any further.

“Nothing more than what I assume you saw. We were flying our ship away from our home and then we went through some sort of tunnel. It was very loud, like a ringing in my ears, and then we were here. If my brother had not stopped the ship when he did, we would have been injured.” He seemed genuinely confused, not surprising considering what he'd just gone through, but her instincts told her there was more to this than what they'd seen.

“What is your name, Mortal.” The brunette fixed her with a withering stare.

“It's Riley, Riley Mitchell. What about you?” She crossed her arms over her chest, cocking a hip out as she felt her inner bitch rising to the surface.

“I am Loki.” He drew himself up to his full height, taking on a kind of regal air, though it seemed a little tarnished.

“Right, okay.” She turned, setting her soda on the counter and sighing.

“You do not believe us.” The blonde laughed as he walked closer.

“Yeah, no kidding.” She turned back, trying to force a smile as she walked past him to where her coat was hanging, digging a pack of cigarettes and her Zippo lighter out of the inside pocket. She had it in her mouth and lit before either of the men could blink.

“Riley! You know it hate it when you smoke in here.” James shouted from across the room, not even turning.

“And I hate it when apparently fictional characters pop into your lab space but it didn't stop you!” She shouted back.

“Fictional? What do you mean by this?” Loki walked toward her, his threatening air backing down in the face of a mystery.

“You guys, Loki and I'm assuming Thor, you guys aren't real, at least, not here. I mean you exist in the old Norse religion as well as in a really long running comic book series, but there are no real people called Loki and Thor. Actually, come to think of it, you guys look a lot like the movie versions of your characters.” She tapped the ash off her cigarette, taking in the details of Loki's face. 

“Movie? What is a movie?” Loki asked, narrowing his eyes slightly at her questions his existence.

“It's a form of media, a series of rapidly moving pictures paired with a sound track, all captured by cameras and put together in a studio, and none of this is making sense to you is it?” She took a long drag from her cigarette, laughing softly as the strangeness of the situation set in on her. “Okay guys, I know you probably have a lot of questions, but I cannot do this right now. I'm gonna leave you with the scientist, he's got more knowledge about this stuff.” She dropped her cigarette, crushing it under the heel of her boot and grabbed her coat and keys, shouting a farewell to James before all but running out of the lab.


	2. Domestics

Riley sat on her couch, laptop open in front of her, cigarette stuck firmly between her lips as she types up James' notes on the pre-construction stage of his interdimensional portal. She laughed softly, blowing a puff of smoke at the screen, as if it was to blame for the shock she'd received. It had only been a few hours since everything happened and she still wasn't calm. She wasn't shaking or hyperventilating anymore, but she could already feel the migraine building and knew that if she spared the recent events any thought, it would send her over the edge into hysteria again. So she'd decided to work, it always calmed her right down. It had been one of the first things she did when she had all but run into her apartment. The first thing she'd done is grabbed a beer from the fridge, downing the foamy contents in just under a minute. It had been enough to give her a head rush and bring her down and shake her from her shocked state. Then came food, a smoke and work. 

“Great, just great. Of all the damn jobs, I had to get the one with an actual mad scientist. Why the hell is it always me? I mean, it's not enough that every boyfriend I've had has been some stereotypical ass hat, but now I have to deal with the Island of Dr. Jackass too?” She sighed, snuffing out the end of her cigarette, pulling a face as she tasted the remnants of burnt filter on her lips and rubbed absently at the small tattoo at her wrist. It was of a triquetra, a pentacle seated in the middle, done in colors of fall. It was the only tattoo she'd ever gotten and it meant the world to her. It was a reminder of her younger days, when she'd been “that girl” around campus. She laughed to think of it now, remembering how her closet was full of nothing but tank tops, billowy peasent skirts and gauzy shawls. She'd been the stereotypical hippie wiccan chick, the one that always had a cause she was fighting for, even if it was only for a week. She'd gotten the tattoo with her boyfriend at the time, a stoner of the highest caliber and a loser to boot. He'd left her shortly there after, claiming she didn't have the right “energy”. That had been what snapped her out of it all, bringing her firmly back to earth and the realization that she answered to a much older religion.

Since then she'd passed through many circles, always getting tired of all the ceremony, the pomp and circumstance that seemingly came hand in hand with any organized religious group and had settled for her small altar in her living room and the occasional prayer session with the only other true pagan she'd met since moving away from home. Margaret, usually called Maggie or Mags by her friends and coven mates, was all that Riley had once dreamed of being. She was “world wise” and “cool” by conventional standards. They'd met at a bar across town, just a random act of kindness on Riley's part. She'd been walking to her car, carrying a half dead, completely drunk and newly ex-boyfriend at the time when she'd seen a woman drop a small satchel. She knew the type from her years of carrying one just like it and had called out to the woman. Margaret had been her friend ever since. 

Just as she was sinking into the memory, a knock on her door brought her out of her reverie and grounded her once again in the maddening reality of her day. Riley sighed, lighting another cigarette and standing, bringing the ashtray with her. She may be a smoker, but she didn't want to ruin her carpet. She peeked through the lens in the door, groaning as she saw James' face, a bit of brunette hair and two broad chests standing behind him.

“Riley, open up, I know you're in there and I need help with these guys.” James sounded almost panicked, maybe they'd threatened him.

“Hell no James, I did not sign up for this. I'm sorry man, but you have more than enough space at the lab.” She started to move away from the door when it rattled in its' frame, the thump of one of the mens' fists ringing through her apartment.

“You will let us in mortal or I will tear this door from its hinges.” Loki all but shouted through the door, hammering on it once again.

“Alright, alright alright, just lay off.” She shouted, undoing the three locks and opening the door for them to come in. She growled softly as she saw the skuffing and denting in the wood, left from one of the gauntlets Loki wore. “You fucked up my door dude.” She fixed him with an irritated stare, waiting for an apology, but none came. She just sighed and slammed the door, redoing the locks and taking her cigarette and ashtray back to her couch and resuming her work.

“Riley, please. I need a place to keep these guys. The portal keeps popping open and I can't work with them constantly trying to fight or blast something.” He motioned to the two men.

“So you would rather they blast things and try to fight in my small apartment, that has neighbors, and a strict sound policy, and a landlord that lives two floors below me. Great, really feeling the love there James.” She took a long drag off her cigarette and closed her eyes, willing them all to be gone when she opened them again. They weren't.

“Rye, come on, they are royalty, they will behave themselves.” He tried to laugh, but came off sounding weak and unsure.

“If that's true then you wouldn't need to get rid of them. And what about smarty pants over there. Is she staying too? Or are you taking the only sane member of the party with you. Also, not too sure about where you guys come from but you might wanna be getting her to a hospital soon.” She pointed to where the woman was slowly slumping over a table, eyes closed, face ashen. Thor was next to her in an instant, holding her to him, as though that would help her.

“There is nothing your mortal healers can do for her. She has a great weapon within her veins that is burning her from the inside out.” He sounded so heart broken that Riley actually began to feel sorry for him.

“There is only one place were she may be saved. We were on our way there when this oaf captured us.” Loki stabbed a finger at James, as if it alone could end him.

“Whoa whoa whoa, I didn't capture anyone, at least, not on purpose. It was just an accident. I've explained this already but they just won't listen.” He turned to Riley, his shaken nerves clear in his eyes. “Please Riley, I can't fix this with them in the lab.” He came over and sat next to her, absent-mindedly waving the smoke out of his face.

“Alright, fine, they can stay here, but only so long as it takes to fix this. You hear me? The moment that machine is up again, they are gone.” She tried to sound stern but couldn't bring herself to add to his mountain of stress. She'd never seen him this bad before. She set her cigarette down in the ashtray and put a hand around his shoulders, ignoring the disgusted exclamation from Loki. James laid his head on her shoulder, letting out a sigh, visibly calming for the positive attention and then sat up, drawing in a breath. 

“I'll be as quick as I can, but I estimate it'll take about a week to fix.” He had the door unlocked and was out it before Riley could respond, leaving her with two confused gods and one sick woman.

“Well that just great. Awesome.” She stood, walking slowly to the door and slamming it with a ringing kind of finality.

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

It had been three days, just three days since James had dropped insanity at her door, and already she was ready for murder. Thor and Loki had not stopped bickering the entire time, it didn't matter when. They would argue about dinner, plans, how to enact those plans, what to do about Jane, what to do about their current predicament. They had even argued over who got the bed. Riley had put a stop to that one quickly enough, using a very heavy frying pan against Thor's head as an argument. 

Jane, for her part, was quite agreeable, given the circumstances. She'd been nothing but understanding toward Riley and her habits, while the other two had done nothing but complain. Her smoking made Loki cough, though it really didn't, it smelled terrible. They didn't like her music. They didn't like when she would sit in the middle of the couch for a full day and work. They didn't like when she would watch TV. They didn't like what she cooked. She didn't cook enough of it. And that had all been in the first day. If it hadn't been for Jane playing mediator, one or both gods and Riley would already be dead. 

The one thing that Loki seemed to actually enjoy about the place was her altar. It seemed to the only thing about her in general that he liked. He found it hilarious that his old Norse self was one of her patron gods and that there was a small idol shaped in his general likeness set off to one side of her bookshelf. Thor, for his part, seemed to try and keep his complaints to a minimum, only ever voicing concern over the things that, to him, really mattered. That seemed to consist almost solely of food stuffs, a place to lay his head, and the state of the woman he loved. All of these things were something that Riley could either fix, of lay at ease with the help of said woman. 

She hadn't been doing so well, pale, weak and sickly, Thor feared she would die before the machine was repaired. But Riley knew a thing or two about redirecting energy and had been coaching Jane on doing the same. Riley had only ever used them as meditation exercises, but for Jane they seemed to actually be doing something. She would sit for hours sometimes, staring off into space on the corner of the couch, trying to direct the flow of the energy inside her away from her vital areas, trying to contain it in her limbs so it would do less damage. The results didn't really start to show until day three.

She woke up looking much better. She seemed refreshed and happy, her skin was almost glowing with rejuvenated youth and her eyes had lost the feverish shine they'd had since they first met. She'd thanked Riley that morning before using her phone to call James, saying she was on her way down to the lab to help with the portal. She'd been dying to get a crack at it since she'd first learned about it, but today was the first day she was really feeling up to moving around. And that left Riley, stuck in a small apartment with two gods that couldn't stand each other and one that couldn't stand her. Today was going to be hard.

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It had been four hours since Jane had left. Nothing had happened. It was a shock to Riley to be in a quiet space for the first time in three days. Thor sat in a corner, reading from an old Norse religious guide she'd bought on eBay and Loki was in the corner, studying her shrine for the millionth time. She plucked a cigarette from the box on the coffee table, sitting back into the plush cushion of the couch and lighting it, eyes fixed on the mischief god the entire time. Surely, if he was planning something, this would get a reaction. But it didn't. The smoke wafted toward the fan, pointed directly at the window which stayed cracked year round, and not a word was said. She didn't trust it.

“See something you like over there silver tongue?” She tried not to sound confrontational. 

“Yes actually. These rune stones. Where did you get them?” He picked one up, missing her small wince. It had taken her a solid month to get those things used to her.

“My mom brought them back from a trip to Scotland. They were made in Norway. Why?” She leaned forward on the couch again, sure that this would spark his little plan.

“They are made of Asgardian stone. I know the kind. It comes from the mountain Odin's Palace is built on.” He tossed the stone in the air, catching it and turning it over in his hand.

“Ok, and that's possible how exactly?” She raised an eyebrow, sure he was leading her on, trying to make a fool out of her for sport.

“The Convergence.” Thor's voice broke softly into the conversation, a thoughtful look on his face.

“Ah, I see you've arrived at the same conclusion. It is the only explanation.” Loki looked between his brother and Riley, a smug kind of smirk on his face. He knew she was the only one in the room who didn't understand what was going on.

“Okay, haha, stupid human doesn't understand. Wanna back track and let me in on the secret?” She fixed him with another glare, it seemed to be all she was doing recently.

“What my brother is referring to is a celestial event that happens once every five thousand years. It is called The Convergence. The nine realms,with Midgard at their center will align. It is the only explanation for our presence here.” He explained as one would to a child, using a patronizing tone and lots of hand gestures, as if she would be completely lost without them.

“But that's in your universe. Our universe doesn't have nine realms. That stuff is all just fiction here.” She pointed to the shelf behind Thor where two whole rows of comic books sat.

“Ah, but your friend created a tear in the fabric of both worlds. Just as we are now here, so too, are our realms, and our problems. Tell me, mortal, what do you know of the Dark Elves?” He grinned, watching the emotions play on her face.

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James was scurrying around the lab, bolting from one place to another as various computer monitors and sensors started beeping all at once. This was the scene that Jane walked into, setting off yet another alarm, although this on was more mundane. James silenced the door alarm with the flick of a switch and a frustrated growl, barely noting Jane's presence until she appeared in his path.

“Oh, hello. Sorry, not quite fixed yet, having a bit of trouble with some other equipment at the moment.” He tried to push past her but she stopped him with a hand.

“James, please, relax. I think I may know a little about what 's going on.” She sat him down at the table, all but forcing tea down his throat to try and calm him and launched into her explanation. 

“Wait, wait wait wait, you mean...I did this?” He deflated as he said it, sagging in his chair, his face falling in sadness until he looked more like a child than a man.

“You didn't do anything wrong. It was an accident. And the good news is we can fix it...maybe.” She said the last bit under her breath. “All we have to do is wait the Convergence out and hope nothing comes through that we can't handle.” She set her arm comfortingly on his, urging him to stand. The machines had not stopped beeping through the entire conversation, but what they hadn't noticed is that it had sped up, almost like a proximity warning. It wasn't until they neared the console itself that they began to realize something was going on.

Lights had appeared on several of the monitors, flashing an angry red and moving slowly toward a large blue dot at the center of the monitor. Jane looked to James, watching the color fading from his face.

“What is that? Please tell me that isn't what I think it is.” She walked over to the monitor, focusing on the dots, watching as they all seemed to spawn from one central point, a larger dot that she hadn't noticed before.

“That is my satellite detection system. I designed it for NASA before they starting planning the Curiosity voyage. It detects celestial body movement in the immediate vicinity of Earth.” He tapped a couple keys on the monitor and a picture took the place of the radar like screen. They were mostly black and what little could be made out was very grainy. “See, there's the moon over there, and that's the Hubble Telescope, various satellites and space junk and...huh.” He tapped the screen, enlarging a certain spot that appeared to be empty space. He stared for a second, getting closer and closer to the screen until a bright red flash made him jump and back away. “What the hell is that?” He pointed to the now visible, very real space ship that was cruising at a steady clip toward them.

“But...that looks like Malekith's ship. I saw a bit of it when he attacked. But that isn't right. Something as big as his ship shouldn't have been able to fit through any of the tears we've seen. I mean, maybe one of the smaller ships but not something that big...unless.” She looked up at James, her face taking on a look of pure fear. “Unless both worlds are starting to merge.”

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

“Okay, so let me get this straight. Because we punched a hole in your universe, now anything can come through so long as it isn't too big? That seems like a dumb rule. I mean, a tear isn't the same as a carefully constructed hole, it leaves jagged edges. Wouldn't it get bigger? That's how it always happens in movies and stuff.” She felt stupid just saying it, but it felt right. 

“Something would have to push through the breach from either side to widen it and I don't think there is anyone stupid enough to do that.” Loki laughed softly, like the very idea was worthy of scorn.

“Why? I mean, a window is still a window right?” She had a feeling that she sounded desperate despite her attempt to remain calm.

“To widen the gap between our worlds would cause them to crash into one another. Have you ever seen two galaxies collide? It is destruction on so grand a scale that there is no word for it. It would end everything in both worlds. As such, no one would dare try.” Loki spoke of it with a kind of reverence, like he had seen two galaxies collide and thought it beautiful.

“How do you two know so much about this stuff? I mean, I know Asgard is advanced and all that, but why would you need to know anything about astrophysics? Don't you have scientists that take care of that for you?” She looked between the brothers, amazed at how similar they seemed now that they were no longer in contention.

“A king must be well versed in all things, even those he will never use.” Thor stated, looking at her as if it were common knowledge.

“As I recall, you used to sneer when Odin said those same words.” Loki laughed, fixing his brother with a mischievous glance that brought a smile to the blonde man's face.

“And as I recall, you were always the one skipping out on long weapons training to go study with Mother.” Both brothers seemed to deflate as this was said. Thor seemed full of a quiet kind of sadness, a grief that was deep, but pure. Loki was no so pure. He seemed to fill with a kind of angry sorrow that shook Riley to the core.

“Ok, so I'm guessing there is an issue with Mommy then?” She regretted it the moment it came out of her mouth.

“She is...no longer with us.” Thor said, a tear sliding down his cheek as he stared into the carpet, like it would give him the comfort he sought. Loki remained silent, his eyes burning with a need for vengeance. Riley's phone chose that moment to ring, startling all three out of their own thoughts.

“Yello? Hey man, how's the...oh...yeah, okay...sure, I'll pull out the air mattress, bring the two from the lab. Yeah....yeah okay, later.” She tapped the phone and then paused for a moment, taking a deep breath before winging the phone across the room where it struck a wall, denting the wall, and fell into a potted plant. Both brothers jumped, looking at her with a sudden caution, like they might have to restrain her any minute. Riley seemed ignorant of the change of mood in either man, standing, lighting a cigarette and moving into the kitchen, grabbing several bottles and putting them on the counter. All held a honey brown liquid, some a little darker, some a little lighter, the only real difference was on the details of the label. Some held the image of a pirate, leg up on a barrel, others were simple black affairs with lettering. 

“Lady Riley, what is the matter?” Thor asked, setting her now cracked phone on the counter and eying the bottles with mild interest.

“My boss, genius that he is, has provided a big damn door for your world to fall through. Apparently some idiot alien ship pushed its way through the hole we made and is on its way to Earth. Which means not only are you guys here but now we're going to be dealing with a whole ship full of what I'm assuming, cause it's been that kind of day, are very nasty alien types. My solution to this is get shit faced and ignore it until it goes away or I'm dead.” She opened on of the pirate bottles and took a long pull from it.

“A ship? He said a ship came through?” Loki got very close to her, pinning her with an angry stare.

“Yes, a ship. A long, thin, black ship with red lights. Jane said it belongs to some guy called Maleky or something. I'm guessing that means something to you?” She returned his stare, refusing to be intimidated one more second.

“Malekith is the odious creature that killed our mother.” Thor said, already by the door.

“So you two are just gonna wait for him to land somewhere and then kill him and everyone else in that ship? No help or anything?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Do not doubt our power mortal. Do not forget that, to your people, we are gods.” Loki looked back at her, full of anger and certain kind of excitement. He smiled, something she had yet to see him do, and followed his brother out the door. 

“Good Luck!” She shouted after them, grabbing as many of the bottles as she could carry as well as another pack of cigarettes and plopped down on the couch, arranging everything within arm's reach to minimize her chances of injuring herself and proceeded to consume as much alcohol and nicotine as possible.


	3. Stories and Stones

The brothers arrived at the lab just as the sun was setting. They walked into what appeared to be a disaster area. There were parts scattered everywhere, metal and plastic and plaster littered the floor and in the middle were a very distraught and messy James and Jane. James was muttering to himself about what had gone wrong this time and Jane seemed to be meditating. It took Thor tripping over an aluminum conduit cover to shake them both from their own thoughts.

“Thor? What are you doing here?” Jane stood up, walking carefully over to him.

“Riley told us about the ship. Is it truly Malekith?” He held her softly by the shoulders, unsure whether he wanted her to yes or no.

“It looked like it, from what we could see. Earth satellite imaging isn't quite as good as Heimdall I'm afraid.” She smiled sheepishly, ignoring the small sound of disgust from Loki.

“Can you tell me where he will be landing?” He turned to James, pulling the man firmly out of his mind and into reality.

“You mean assuming he lands? He isn't flying like he plans to land anywhere. I don't know what kind of propulsion system he's using but he isn't slowing down at all and he's getting really close to the moon. I don't think he can even see us.” James pulled up the latest scans his satellites had recorded and charted the path of the ship, showing where it would hit or, far less likely in James' mind, land.

“Very good. How long until he arrives?” Thor asked.

“At this rate, he'll be here by tomorrow afternoon.” James said, sounding much calmer than he felt.

“We will be ready for him.” Loki took note of the area the ship would land and was gone before Thor could say a word. He caught up to him outside.

“Where are you going? You have no weapons and no armor. How will you fight him?” He grabbed his brother's shoulder, drawing attention from passer-bys.

“I have my daggers and magic, I will be fine though it touches me to know that you will worry over me.” Loki quipped, pulling his arm out of his brother's grip and starting back down the street. He heard his brother begin pursuit again and growled softly, phasing out of his sight so that the blonde idiot ran right past him. He smirked, setting off quickly to Riley's apartment. He would need those rune stones if he was going to pull this off properly.

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Riley was dancing around her apartment, scattering cigarette ash over the carpet as she jumped around to “The Phoenix” by Fall Out Boy. She didn't normally go in for this kind of music, too shallow and whiny, but something about the beat of the song made her love it. She was well on her way through the bottle of rum she'd opened when the boys left and was feeling pleasantly ignorant of everything but the music and her cigarette. Just as the song ended, switching to “Ramble On” by Led Zeppelin, she tripped over her overly long sweat pants and was unexpectedly caught by an invisible pair of arms. She was about to scream when the form of Loki shimmered into visibility.

“Wow, thanks.” She gripped the counter, pulling herself out of his arms and turned, putting her cigarette down in the ashtray and stepping back. 

“What are you listening to?” He asked in the same tone as someone smelling dog shit and she felt herself getting angry.

“Got something to say? It's Led Zeppelin and it is awesome.” She took another swig of her rum and glared at him.

“I have no time for this. I am taking the Rune Stones from your altar.” He held them up, sliding them into a small pouch.

“No! Give those back!” She lunged for them, missing by a few inches as he stepped away from her, leaving her to fall to the kitchen floor.

“I will return them when I have finished with my business. Fear not mortal, I will not lose your precious decoration.” He sneered at her, flashing invisible again.

“You son of a bitch! Get back here!” She screamed, throwing a whiskey bottle at the spot she'd seen him facing. She heard a small hiss when the bottle shattered, but it was against a wall, not a head. She saw his face shimmer into visibility for a moment, a small line of red along one cheek and death in his eyes before he vanished, the door slamming shut behind him.

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

It was all Loki could do to not turn and end that pathetic mortal where she stood. How dare she! The stones were not even from her realm. She had no right to them save what she claimed in sentimentality. A small voice in his head said that neither did he, but he chose to ignore that and concentrate on his anger instead. The insolent woman had thrown a bottle at him. It would've done nothing, even if it had hit him, but the cut he'd received stung in the wind of the day and he found himself feeling almost betrayed that she had attacked him.

He caught himself in that train of thought and promptly changed the subject. He was not beginning to like her. She was an irritating mortal and he couldn't wait to be rid of her, even if she was an interesting conversational companion occasionally. Her food was sub par, compared to the banquets he'd attended in Asgard and her music was atrocious, though it did stir the blood in a primal sort of way. Her domicile was cramped and small, though if there were less people in it, it could be quite cozy.

He shook his head, pulling himself away from the consideration of the woman entirely. He may be developing a liking for her, but it didn't matter, soon they would be gone and Malekith would be dead, he had to plan how he would seize the throne. He had already ruled out by force, it hadn't worked very well the first time and now they all knew his tricks. He knew he would never been able to fool Odin, the All Father was too smart for that. But what about Thor? 

He felt his face split into a grin as he picked up his pace. His gullible brother would be the perfect target. The All Father knew him too well for him to take Thor's place, but how much did Thor really know of his precious father? It would have to be done delicately. The whole of Asgard would erupt in anger if the King suddenly disappeared, but, after a fierce battle or after more grievous news, like the death of an ill gotten heir, would be perfect. They would all assume that he would be in chambers until the grief ran its course. And in that time Loki would capture and secret him away, taking his place as the reluctant and sad leader. It was perfect.

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Thor turned to Jane, concerned at the time lapse since his brother had left. It had been almost an hour and there had been no sign of Loki. He was beginning to think that he'd run off, choosing to live as an outsider in the universe instead of go back in his brother's custody. He was just gathering himself to begin a search when the door to the lab opened, revealing an angry, bleeding Loki.

“Brother, why are you bleeding?” Thor stood away from the console, obviously expecting an army to charge through the door after Loki.

“That blasted mortal threw a bottle at me.” Loki drew a thumb across his cheek, wiping the blood from it and glaring at James as though this were his fault.

“Riley did? Why?” James turned from his monitor, concentration being replaced by panic.

“I took the stones from her altar and she shouted at me and threw the bottle. Are all mortal women this irrational?” He asked, his eyes fixed on Jane, glittering with mischief.

“Oooh, you touched her altar? Man, you are brave. She's put guys in the hospital for messing with that thing.” James laughed softly.

“For an altar? That seems a little much for something you can rebuild in like, ten minutes.” Jane said, looking incredulously at James.

“Yeah well all the stuff on it came from her mom or grandmother. She didn't used to be so protective of it, but since the accident, she's been really zealous about no one messing with it. She says that their energy is the only thing she has of them anymore.” He explained quickly, like he wanted to get it out before anyone could actually hear.

“Accident? They died?” Jane's face went from amused to shocked to saddened faster than Loki had ever seen.

“Yeah, there was some kinda pile up on the interstate a couple years ago, something about a tanker flipping across all four lanes and then they just didn't come home. The cops showed up a few hours later and gave her the news, she didn't take it well. Sometimes I think she still isn't coping.” He sighed, going back to his monitor and figures. Jane bit her lip, looking at Loki.

“You have to give them back. It's all she's got left.” She gave him a soulful look, something he was sure worked on most men.

“Tell me, Jane, what remembrance do I have of my mother? Or Thor of his? It is a happy thing to have, but no necessary. She does not need it as I do.” He tucked the pouch in a pocket, turning. “Thor, if we are to reach the ship in time, we must go now.” He stood by the door, motioning with a hand for them to leave.

“Yes. Jane, please stay with James and Riley. They will make sure you are safe until we can remove the Aether from you safely. Do not follow me.” He leaned down and kissed her softly before turning and walking out of the lab with his brother.

“Alright, well there isn't anything else we can do here today, all this stuff needs at least a day to set up. Let's go check on Riley, I'm sure she's gonna want to get drunk, if she hasn't already.” James grabbed his stuff from the table, the only clean surface in the room, and waited for Jane to leave the room so he could shut off the lights.

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Thor had just taken off. It had taken some doing, convincing him that his help wasn't needed, but finally Loki was alone. He scanned the area, looking for any of the colorful pockets that would allow him to travel between realms, grinning softly when he caught sight of one in the side of a building. It was just large enough for him to slip through and, if the scenery on the other side was anything to go off of, was near the spot where the ship would land. It made him smile to know that some things in life never changed. Whoever created this universe was just as lazy as the one who'd made his. There were little holes all over the place, made easily accessible by the humans' need to build. He walked to the building, ignoring the horns going off on either side of him as he crossed the road and leaned against the wall, taking a breath as he felt his body begin to fall into the space between worlds. He straightened up in the riot of light and color that is the area of nothing that packs the space around worlds and crossed the short gap to the other side, stepping out in a cold place.

It was snowy here, but bright, so close to what Jotunnheim could have been if their leader had but tried a little harder. He smiled, bending and feeling the snow between his fingertips. It was cold and wet, and the sensation seemed to remind his body what he truly was, shifting his skin to that of a Jotunn male, all pale blue and carvings. He laughed as the sensation of coldness descended through his whole body, inuring him to it from any outside source. It was still a foreign sensation, something he had never had the opportunity to get used to due to the stigma set on his kind by his supposed father. He felt a sneer pull at his lips and pushed the thoughts away, hearing the telltale sound of Mjölnir coming up behind him.

“Here already brother? I am surprised.” He turned, the blue fading from his skin.

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

James knocked on the door softly, half afraid of what would be waiting for him on the other side, but was greeted with the tear stained face of a very drunk Riley. She was mumbling something under her breath about “son of a bitch gods” and snake venom, but none of it was too worrying for him. He'd seen her when she was in the grips of true misery and so long as she was moving around and talking, he knew she would be alright. Jane on the other hand rushed into the room, grabbing her up in a hug and directing her to the now booze free couch. She motioned with her free hand for him to get rid of the remaining bottles and sat with Riley on the couch.

“Oh sweetie, don't worry, he'll bring them back.” She shushed her softly, rubbing her arms as the woman reached a shaky hand out to her pack of cigarettes. 

“If he doesn't, I'm gonna kill him.” Riley sounded dead serious, a tone that chilled Jane's blood and made her look to James, who was busying himself in the kitchen. It didn't take long to figure out what he was doing as he appeared with three cups of coffee and a plate of toast, eggs and bacon.

“Alright lush, time to wake up.” He snagged the laptop off her lap, setting the plate in front of her and shoving the table so close that it brushed her knees when she leaned forward.

“Not hungry.” She mumbled, turning her face away from the food.

“Bull shit, I know you, you only get this bad, this quick, when you haven't had anything to eat. Now scarf or wear it.” He fixed her with a pointed glare and she crumbled, sticking a tongue out at him as she started shoveling food into her mouth. “Coffee too, I can't have my best candidate too hung over to work now can I?” He smiled as she grinned, flipping him off and trying to hide her smile.


	4. Strange Dreams and Strange Connections

The day had passed relatively slowly for the two brothers, the night was no less dull. Loki had long since tired of pestering his brother, tormenting him with all manner of quips and barbs about friends and family and had settled for planning in silence. Thor, for his part, was miles away in his own thoughts, reliving all the happy memories he had of his mother. Many of them featured Loki in some form or another, be it a game they all used to play together, or having stories read to them before bed. It was enough to warm his heart toward his brother, rekindle some of the lost affection he had thought dead.

“Loki, do you remember the stories mother used to tell us?” He turned to his brother, a small smile on his face.

“Of course I do.” Loki responded, refusing to turn to face the blonde god.

“Come now, can we not simply converse?” He tried to be lighthearted, ignoring the continued iciness from his adopted sibling.

“Thor, what point is there in our conversing. We know what must be done and have agreed upon a plan of action. There is nothing to do at this point but wait. If you wish to pass the time, might I suggest some quiet reflection?” His tone was final and he capped it off by moving further away and laying down, using his cloak as a pillow as his skin deepened from pale white to blue. Thor knew better than to push his brother further, he would come around when he was ready. Besides, he had a point, they were both tired from the day and could do with a rest. He sighed as he pulled out the spare cloak he'd thought to bring and folded it under his head, ignoring the cold around him as sleep claimed him almost instantly.

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

They had finally managed to calm Riley enough to get a coherent story out of her, though it had taken every ounce of James' patience. Between the liquor still working its way out of her system and her stubborn refusal to release her anger, it was almost nightfall before she could recount the story without dissolving into either tears of a fit of anger. Turns out that she was simply enjoying herself, dancing around in her sweats and a tank when Loki had come in, invisible according to her and stolen her mother's rune stones out from under her. She kept grumbling about the energy, how it would be contaminated, but James had never understood any of her Pagan stuff. Jane seemed to have a better grasp on it and was working to console her, after she'd repeated the story for the fifth time.

“Rye, focus hun, what exactly did he say he needed them for.” James asked, sighing in exasperation.

“How the hell should I know, it's not like he sat here and monologued his whole damn plan to me or anything. He just came in, snatched them, kept me from smashing my face on the floor and then..” She made a sound like wind whooshing away and flipped the front door off. Jane giggled at this, quickly silenced by two sets of angry eyes.

“Sorry, I'm just not used to people flipping off inanimate objects. I take it this is normal for you guys?” She asked, looking between the two. It was weird how they looked almost related when they did that.

“Yes, I like to express myself. Look, James, I don't know anything else alright? I'm sober and exhausted and dirty and in need of a shower. The air bed is in the closet, Jane can take the bed, I'll snag the couch. Let's just all sleep this off like a bad dream and we'll see where we are in the morning alright?” She stood up from the couch, shrugging Jane's arms away and grabbing the ashtray, dumping it in the trashcan as she walked down the hall. She grabbed another pack of cigarettes, a water proof lighter and carried them, along with the ash tray into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

“Well, she seems better.” James said, taking a deep breath and wincing as loud rock music began to boom out from around the bathroom door, mingling with the sound of the shower turning on. “At least she's not breaking things anymore.” He amended, walking into the kitchen to start cleaning up.

“Is this something that happens often?” Jane asked, walking after him, towel in hand.

“Only when she's had a bad break up, or a fight with her brother, or her dad is in town...so yeah, pretty regular.” He laughed, wetting a rag under the faucet and beginning to wipe down the counters. Jane followed along behind him, drying and straightening so that the whole kitchen, minus one area with dirty dishes piled in it, was spotless and organized. That was how Riley found it when she came out, once more in sweats and a tank top, hair plaited in a braid down her back. 

“Thanks guys, sorry about earlier. I'm better now, promise. So, who's up for a movie and some ice cream?” She held up a copy of “Paul” and watched James break into a grin. Jane just seemed confused and Riley was struck for the first time by the differences in their worlds. “You have no idea what this movie is do you?” She asked, handing the case to Jane.

“Not a clue. Looks good though. Is it funny?” She asked, handing it back and going to the living-room. She settled on the floor in front of the coffee table and smiled, waiting for the other two to get comfortable.

“Has anyone ever told you that you are incredibly easy to get along with? I mean, you are stupid amounts of sweet.” Riley said, popping the disc in the player and turning on the TV.

“Yeah well, my parents taught me to be polite and you guys are fun.” She smiled back at the woman on the couch, grinning when Riley shoved her feet under James, unseating him and motioning for Jane to join her instead. 

“Ladies get the couch. You now that.” She grinned, hitting play before James could respond.

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Loki couldn't sleep. It was something he had plenty of experience with. Even before all the betrayal and pain, he'd often be kept awake by ideas or theories he couldn't reconcile in his mind, driven from his bed to the vast libraries of the palace, pulled by the knowledge contained in the covers of those books. But his restlessness this night was not caused by his own mind but another. The thoughts were warm, warmer than any mind he'd ever touched and full of energy. It was like touching a stone on the beach at midday, full of potential and heat. It settled in his mind like a pebble in a shoe, pulling his mind to see its presence.

Thor lay facing away from him, soft snores accompanying the rise and fall of his shoulders. Trust the oaf to be able to sleep through anything. It was something Loki had always envied in his brother. He was capable of relaxing almost on command, silencing his mind to peacefulness on a whim. Even now, in the face of abandonment in a new world, he was like a babe asleep in its mother's arms, placid and without a care, having pleasant dreams as well no doubt. He sneered, turning his envy to scorn. Truly, Thor was without thought. He rolled to his back, feeling the snow press in on his cold skin. It wasn't until he rolled on his belt pouch that he realized the source of his original discomfort. There was something incredibly hot in the small sack. It felt like someone had lined the whole bag with boiling water. 

He drew the string open, looking inside to see the rune stones he'd taken from Riley, glowing white hot and brilliant as star light. He tried to examine them, reaching a hand into the pouch with the intent of pulling one of the stones out. But the stones had other plans. No sooner had he touched one but it burned his finger as if he'd touched a raw flame. He drew his hand out of the bag with a soft hiss, glaring down at it as though it had meant to do that. It was then he realized that the bag was emitting not only heat, but light as well. It was like a miniature sun was trapped in the bag, shining out in the darkness. 

“Interesting” He grinned, grabbing a handful of snow and dropping it down into the bag on top of the runes, following it quickly with his now pale blue fingers, grabbing the first stone he could while they were still relatively cooled from the snow. Once separated from its fellows, the stone dimmed, resembling the light of a stubby candle as opposed to the star light brightness still inside the satin lined velvet and the heat was nowhere near what it had been. It was still warm, but only in so far as a stone would be after having been pressed against a body for several hours. His grin widened, beginning to understand what was happening to the seemingly ordinary stones.

He'd mentioned before that they were of Asgard, a rare mineral that must've fallen to Midgard during the last convergence, but that was not all they were. The element the stones were comprised of was conductive. It had the ability, if left in the same person's care long enough, to transmit that person's thoughts and emotions, directly through the stone. It had been used as a primitive means of tracking and monitoring a spouse or child. Rings were made of the stone and exchanged on the day of marriage or when a child came of age and never removed, thus allowing the couple or parent to know at any point if the child or spouse was well. It had long since become obsolete on his world, being replaced by much more sophisticated methods like direct psychic links. But it was possible that these stones, having been kept in Riley's presence so long, were reacting to her mind.

He felt a pang of worry spark the corner of his mind. If they were so hot and bright, she must either be in great danger, or having very bad dreams. He caught his mind wandering toward her, the stone in his hand aiding him in making a link with her, stopping short of connecting. It was foolish of him to be letting his consciousness venture away from his body, especially for one little mortal. But still the interest had been sparked. He would inquire about this further when he saw her again. For now, he sighed and lay back in the snow, tying the bag tight again but keeping one stone in his hand, gripped tight as he felt sleep finally begin to claim him.

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Riley thrashed on the couch, the blanket tangling around her feet as her arms reached toward the air. Her mind was far away, in the past, caught in the recollection of someone else's mind. It had been two years since the accident. Two years since she was woken up by a dream of smoke and fire and crushing pressure to the phone call from her father. Two years since she'd had to bury the two most important women in her life. But it would seem that two years was not enough time to lessen the memory of them. Even now, when she was surrounded by the energy of so many different people, the memory of her mother's mind still thrived in her dreams, giving her visions of a giant eighteen wheeler, already ablaze, turning end over end toward her. A pile of cars growing steadily larger, lit by the light of the still burning wreck of the truck off to her right. Pain, lancing and oppressive, holding tight to her chest and keeping her pinned. And her grandmother, seated beside her, clinging to the steering wheel as she tried to pull the shrapnel from her side. Even then, under so much pain and fear, she was shushing her daughter, keeping her calm, keeping her focused on anything but the large piece of metal protruding from her chest.

And then she was awake, sitting up and panting, hand flying to her chest, just where the metal had pierced her mother's heart, pinning her to the seat and sealing her fate. She was shaking, her whole body feeling weak and fragile, like a porcelain doll that had been repaired one too many times. She felt like she would simply fall apart if she was shaken again. She looked around, suddenly not wanting to be alone, desperately wishing the others were awake as tears pricked at her eyes. She hugged her knees to her chest, rocking slowly back against the arm of the couch as she began to sob quietly into the blanket. And that was how sleep claimed her, wrapped in grief and remembered fear.

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Across the world, Loki's eyes flew open, his mind struggling to reconnect with his body, reminding himself who he was and where he was, pushing down memories of fire and stabbing pain that didn't belong to him. He hissed as his mind rose to full wakefulness, dropping the stone that had slowly been branding the rune on its surface into his palm. He stuck his hand into a snowbank, groaning softly as it both heightened and alleviated the burning skin. He would have a scar, at least until he could return to Asgard and see a proper healer. But what had those memories been about? He'd never known anyone who died like that and even if he had, they were never bonded. He should not have had access to memories that were not his own.

He looked down at the rune, grimacing softly as he saw the small hole it had melted in the snow where it had fallen. It still steamed slightly, still powered with remembered heat and tension. He tossed some snow over it, letting it sit and cool for a moment before reaching down and grabbing it, keeping it encased in the snowball around it, listening to the hiss of it slowly melting the cold flakes. Why did it react more when he touched it? He had no connection to the mortal, anymore than anyone would have after having spent a night or two in her home. There is no reason her stones should be giving him these memories and feelings. 

He started as something cold and wet fell on his hand, a drop of water. But it wasn't water, it was a tear. A single tear shed from his own eye, though he had nothing to shed a tear for. It began to chill and freeze on his skin, turning it to its natural pale blue. What was the meaning of it all? He sighed, wiping the moisture from his hands and putting the rune back into the pouch with the others. He was about to face a terrible enemy and could not afford to have his sleep interrupted again.


	5. Life and Death

The day dawned, bright and cold. Loki woke first, waking his brother with a shower of freshly fallen snow over his unprotected face. For a moment, it was like they had never been apart, like the last several years worth of betrayal and pain had never happened. He was back at his brother's side, preparing for a battle with some small civilization that resented Odin's rule. But as the sun rose, Thor stood, no smile present, his eyes distant as he saw his brother's smirking face and the truth of the situation settled once again on Loki's already heavy shoulders. The pain that lanced through him was quickly swallowed into his own burning resentment and grief. He was not here for his brother, he was here for vengeance. He was here to take the life of the creature who had slain the only member of his adopted family that had still loved him.

He stood, shaking the snow from his cloak and armor as he checked his weapons, still at his hips, and the pouch containing the stones he stolen from Riley. They had returned to their normal temperature. He took a moment to wonder at the happenings of the night before, going so far as the reach into the pouch to feel the stones. They no longer vibrated with the energy he had sensed the night before and they were cold, lifeless once more. He thought of the human woman, crying and cursing him, the heat of the stones so reminiscent of her temper that it struck him almost physically. She truly was connected to them, though why that was or why it merited his attention he had yet to guess. Thor shook him from his musings, calling his attention to the air, pointing out the slight shimmer it had taken on.

“The convergence has begun, this is but one of the many...symptoms, we will see. Watch.” He took a handful of snow, forming it into a ball as he drew even with his brother. He tossed the ball lightly through the shimmering distortion, laughing as it exited just behind them, exploding into powder against the back of his brother's skull.

“I have no time for your games Loki. What does this mean?” He turned, facing his grinning brother, brushing the snow from his hair.

“Simply put, the walls of the worlds are thinning. As for time, it would seem we have plenty. We know from your mortal's calculations that this is where the Dark Elf will appear and he has yet to arrive, so it would seem that we are left with little to do but wait. Wouldn't you agree?” He hefted another handful of snow, forming another ball and chucking it a little harder into the shimmer, watching as his brother flinched, though no projectile ever came. He made a small noise of interest and tested it again, watching as the snow ball disappeared, reappearing as half melted and fragile. “Still in flux it would seem. Malekith will wait until the convergence is at its height before he makes his attempt. He can't risk the Aether going off course or it will pull him with it. But it seems odd that he will come here openly without first attaining it, don't you think?” He looked over to his brother, seeing if the big lug had followed his train of thought.

“What do you mean? Speak plainly, I am in no mood for your riddles.” Thor turned to him, a blankly angry look on his face. Loki sighed, turning to face Thor fully and taking a deep breath, preparing himself for a lengthy explanation.

“I mean, we were on our way to him, if you will recall. He was menacing Asgard to get to the mortal woman Jane, correct? He would not dare move against a full realm until he attained that power. Jane is not here, she is back with the mortals on the other side of the world. It would be foolish to expect his first move to be an overt landing. It would put us all on alert and give us time to hide the woman before he could get to her. I believe that this is a ruse, taking us out of the fight before it has even begun so that he may infiltrate the city where we landed and obtain the Aether before we even know he is here.” Loki kept his tone calm, realizing even as he said it that it had the ring of absolute truth. His mind had been buzzing ever since they'd set out for this place. He hadn't known at the time just what was causing his nerves to be so on edge, but now it was clear. He had been fooled, just like the mortals, into thinking that the elf would be disoriented after coming through the portal. It had made sense at first, they had been so why wouldn't he? But he had spent the majority of his life traveling through realms and living in the dark space at the edge of the Universe. It had been foolishness to think that he would be so easily confused.

“We must return, immediately.” Thor began to swing Mjolnir in quick circles, the leather strap creaking rapidly as wind began to kick up snow around him. 

“See you there brother,” Loki said, fading through the small portal he'd found. He was back in the city and on his way to Riley's apartment before his brother even hit the coast. He laughed, sometimes it was nice to be the smarter of the two, even if it did lead to an unfair prejudice.

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Riley was the first one awake. Her eyes itched with the remnants of tears and her head still ached slightly. Guess even a midday bender would leave a hangover. Her mind took a moment to catch up to the present, running through the happenings of the night before, including the nightmarish remembrance of her mother's death. Why had she relived it so vividly? Why had the memories risen up in such clarity for her? Her eyes wandered over to the empty spot on her altar, the space usually occupied by her rune stones and she had a fleeting image of Loki, halfway around the world, sitting bolt upright. Had he seen them too?

She shook her head, ridding herself of the questions. Thinking was for after breakfast and coffee. But how to get to the kitchen? She looked around, seeing chip bags and snack wrappers littering the floor. Last night had been a hell of a time. They'd ended up staying in the living room, Jane and Riley both taking up the couch and James on the queen sized air mattress on the floor. At some point in the night, Jane had decided to join James, sleeping in the opposite direction on the bed so that her feet were pressed against his chest, a throw pillow stuck between her shoulder and her head, the small afghan she'd been snuggling under wrapped tightly around her. It was like something out of a high school sleep over and it brought on a small fit of laughter as Riley struggled to get up without waking the other two.

They didn't wake up for another half hour. It was the smell of breakfast that first brought them to consciousness, bacon popped and sizzled with fried potatoes cooled on the counter. A plate of sausage was already sitting on the breakfast bar and the coffee pot was happily percolating, adding its own delicious aroma to the bouquet that drew the two sleepy people to the table.

“Good morning.” Riley turned, sliding the last of the bacon and scrambled eggs onto two separate dishes. She began to set the dishes on the table, making sure everything was within reach of everyone and going to get the milk, orange juice and fresh coffee for everyone. It was nice, she thought, playing host. She hadn't done it in a while, she hadn't had anyone over in a while. She looked over at the two, rubbing sleep from their eyes and muttering tiredly to one another, their brains still struggling to rid themselves of the foggy after affects of a good night's sleep. She smiled, settling herself into her own seat and filling her plate with eggs, bacon, sausage and fried potatoes and filling her mug with coffee that she then began to “doctor”. It was her word for all the steps she went through to make it not taste like coffee anymore. James threw out his usual snarky comment about wanting some coffee with her creamer but she just ignored him and let the warmth of the situation seep into her, chasing away the horror of the night before and the sting of sorrow it had brought up with it. Everything was perfect, for the moment, simple and perfect and nice, and then the door burst open and everything went to hell.

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Loki was nearing the apartment when they attacked him. Dark Elves, coming from the alleys on either side of the street, charging forward with energy weapons firing directly into his path. No shots seemed to be aimed at him, just where he had been heading. He turned, intent on finding another way to the mortal's apartment building, only to find more combatants coming from the alleys behind him. Once they had filled the space on either side of him, covering the road and adjacent side streets, they stopped firing and just stood, blank face masks staring at him, weapons trained on him, resolute. 

Thor was facing a similar predicament, only about a thousand feet up. He had been surrounded mid flight by four of the small craft that had made the attack on the palace. Like the ground forces, they didn't seem intent on attacking him directly, merely stopping him from moving any further toward the apartment. They had forced him to land on a high rise not too far off his flight path, sitting at each corner of the building like sentinels, waiting for him to make a move. He set his hammer onto the roofing gravel gently, hands held out to his sides, face grim. He knew the purpose behind this obstruction and his mind was working furiously to find a way around it. He had to reach Jane before Malekith got to her, or there may not be anything left to save.

Loki, for his part, had been thinking for moment one. He knew that if he took a step either forward or back, he would earn a quick and painful death. But these creatures didn't seem to know his full power. Perhaps they hadn't thought it prudent to learn just what tricks he had up his sleeve. He grinned, turning in a slow circle, careful to keep his position neutral, surveying every soldier and their position, measuring the space left between them. It would be easy enough to simply vanish and slip between two of them, continue on his way, but he had no way of knowing if that would work. They could start firing randomly in the hopes of hitting him. They could have a contingency for that particular trick. But would they be able to control themselves against more than one of him? He grinned, readying himself to strike. 

Thor was pacing around the roof, glaring at the ships as though that would make them move. He could feel the rage building in him. First these monsters take his mother from him, make him abandon his home and potentially lose the love of the only parent he had left, and then they come to the one place he still feels safe and proceed to menace the woman he loves. Truly, they were begging for a quick and ugly death. He knew he would not be able to control himself for much longer. His temper was legendary, and not without reason. A god he may be, but even gods have a limit, and these creatures were pushing him to the breaking point.

Both brothers acted at once, though still miles apart. Loki faded from their vision, flattening himself against a wall as the panic fire started. That alone took out several soldiers. He laughed as the mortal woman's term for this floated through his mind, friendly fire appeared to be anything but. He took a moment to gather himself, manifesting several copies of himself at strategic points, waiting to make first one appear and then the other. The Dark Elves, disoriented as they were by the strange surroundings and unusual battle plan, began to fire on their fellows, trying to hit the quickly fading illusions of his own smiling face. It was almost pathetic how easy it was. He waited until a fair number of them lay dead on the ground before dismissing the illusions, maintaining his own invisibility and set off at a sprint for Riley's apartment. He had a sick feeling in his stomach that he would already be too late, something was screaming at the edge of his mind and the rune stones at his side had begun to heat again, almost burning through the fabric of the pouch. 

Thor was not so subtle with his attack. It was a spectacle that would be reported for several days on the local news as both a freak weather occurrence and an experiment gone wrong, though neither would ever be fully explained. He had no illusions, no tricks up his sleeve to throw at the overwhelming fire power now trained on him. All he had was his own strength and power. He stopped his pacing, kneeling slowly to the graveled roof, his hands at his sides, one finger slowly curling around Mjolnir's leather strap and drawing it closer to him. If the elves noticed, they didn't seem to care as no shots bombarded him. It wasn't until the hammer started to slowly revolve that the weaponry came to life, actively aiming at him instead of just vaguely pointing. By the time they realized something as amiss, it was too late. Lightning poured down from the sky, raining onto the rooftop, throwing sparks off anything metal or wired and sending shocks through several buildings around the high rise. It was enough to knock out power in all four ships, blowing holes in the sides and venting shafts of the interior. Fire leapt from those holes, fanned and fed by the air rushing into the previously sealed craft. They fell with a strange kind of grace, the shape of the ships slowly causing them to turn in the air until the bow was facing the street. It was, luckily, free of pedestrians. The ships crashed with muted explosions, throwing more fire and sparks into the road. Thor didn't bother to watch, not caring if there were survivors. He was already flying as fast as he could to the small apartment building, his stomach twisting in anxiety. 

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Riley was the first to her feet, running for the kitchen, hand mere inches from the handle of a knife, when the energy blast hit her in the side. It didn't sting or burn, not like she would've expected from a bolt of pure light energy, it just tore through her, causing every pain receptor she had to fire at once, dropping her instantly to the floor, though the only sign she had been wounded was a small burn mark on her side. Jane was a little more clever, melting to the floor and dodging under a table as the room was sprayed with suppressing fire. James dropped quickly, a small burn at his temple, his eyes open wide and staring. His face was passive, relaxed, still in the sleepy expression of happiness it had been a moment before. It was the expression he would wear to the grave. Jane held back a sob, putting a hand to her mouth to stifle her breathing and praying that this was just an advance party. The sound of slow laughter and heavy boot falls on the plush carpet let her know just how wrong she was. Malekith had come for her himself. 

“Come out Mortal, I can sense you are here.” His voice was dark and low, full of malice and anger. It was like listening to concentrated hatred. It sent chills down her spine and she felt a strange urge to obey, her body even beginning to shift before she brought her limbs back under control. It would seem that he could command the Aether even if it was in another host. “No? Well perhaps another death on your hands will convince you. How many more will have to sacrifice themselves before you stop hiding and face your fate?” His footsteps traveled across the living room, moving to the hallway opening to the kitchen. He said something in his native tongue, a faint groan accompanying the following rustle of movement. It was Riley. She was still alive. But not for long if Jane remained hidden.

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Riley was blissfully unaware of anything that was happening in her apartment. She was somewhere else, floating in a sea of blue green energy, surrounded by it on all sides. It seemed to glow faintly, happily, tossing her occasionally on a wave or surge before settling again. It formed a kind of pattern or rhythm, jouncing her around in time to some kind of movement or action that she couldn't see. It was almost like it was alive and trying to keep her safe from the storm raging further in. She could just barely see it, a dark mass at the edge of her vision. It was like a massive cyclone at sea, it threw a shadow that was so dark it was almost tangible, even this far away and it made her wish she could anchor herself in the pleasant shallows. Already she could feel the change in the water, the pull of the tide. She was moving inexorably toward it, despite the waves and her own feeble movements.

Soon, the shadow was upon her, drowning her in a cold black rain, pushing her under the surface of the emerald green tide, into a darker water. This too was green, thick and heavy like the needles of a pine tree, shocked through with a pale blue, so frigid it burned when it touched her. She tried to resurface, make her way out of this painful torrent, but could neither find the surface nor see enough to guess if she was even going in the right direction. She fought for breath, her lungs screaming at her to open her mouth and take in anything at all to relieve the pain, but she fought it down, her vision slowly going black, shocks of frigid bright blue closing around her limbs and holding her still, burning her limbs as her consciousness slipped away from her.

She opened her eyes a moment later, all sensation gone from her body save for a sense of weightlessness and she saw herself, floating in the midst of that murky hell, eyes closed, body completely relaxed, hair fanned around her in a slowly waving mass. It was beautiful, in a horrific kind of way. She saw the burning tendrils holding her, the skin beneath them slowly blackening. But this vision didn't last long. She was being pulled away from herself, into a kind of black light. It gave off a luminescence, but no warmth, and while it lit the area around it, it seemed to also lengthen the shadows. It was a place Riley did not want to go, but she knew she had no choice. She tried to close her eyes as she passed through the blackness, not wanting to see what was on the other side, but all she could do was whimper as it pressed into her. She could feel it all over, pressing against her skin as if it could go right through her clothes. She could feel it on her eyes, pressing against the skin, invading the pupils, slowly sliding into her mind, and then she was through.

The sight below her was beautiful. It was Asgard, presented from above in all of its gilded glory. The image didn't last long, fading in, pulling her into the buildings, below the ground, showing her flashes of images. She saw a small boy in a massive library, reading at a table that seemed too large to be real. She saw a young man, smiling at the base of a throne, accepting a horned helm from the man that sat upon it. She saw a bright blue cube like weapon, standing on a pedestal, just out of reach of a small hand. Her vision flashed again, changing to a planet made of ice and snow, the frigid cold should've frozen her to the bone, but it didn't. She saw giants, blue and covered in runic scars, their skin imbedded with bits of jade. Then there was nothing but cold blackness once again, her heart swelled with a sorrow and anger so deep and profound that she had to fight to breathe. It was enough to draw tears from her eyes. She felt like she was standing at the mouth of a gaping maw, full of despair, a bottomless pit of suffering that was pulling her down. 

The vision faded, ripping away from her with a tangible pain. She found herself coming back to her own body, freed of both the torrent of confusing currents and the bright blue tendrils. She struggled to the surface, fighting her way out of the black storm, breaking the edge with an audible scream. The shallows welcomed her once more, their gentle waves carrying her away from the hell she'd fallen into and soothing her chilled skin with their soft warmth. She felt the pain in her extremities easing, being washed away with every lap of the water around her. She didn't even realize she was moving until she was deposited on a beach, the water receding from her with a kind of reluctance that seemed almost romantic in its caress. It was on this beach that she finally allowed herself to collapse. Her head pillowed on a familiar lap, a smile shining in a familiar face, wrinkled with age but no less youthful in expression. Another set of hands began tending her frost burned skin. The hands moved with a practiced ease, like they had tended her millions of times before. A face leaned into her blurring vision and she knew it well. She felt tears rise, obscuring the faces of the two women until they were unrecognizable. She allowed herself to cry out her anger and fury into the lap of her grandmother, letting go of her fear and sadness as her mother soothed the pain in her wrists and ankles. It was in this state that she let herself drift off, her mind returning to her body, sinking into the sore flesh she had accidentally fled. As she came to, she felt herself being moved. She remembered the attack, falling onto the hard kitchen tile. She felt carpet under her now as hands set her none too gently onto the floor. She felt a hand beside her, calloused and well used. It was James, but he wasn't moving. She reached over to him, trying to grasp his fingers to let him know she was safe, but got no response. His skin was cool to the touch, and getting colder. He didn't move, not even when she pinched his skin between her nails. 

She felt her blood run cold, the rising sorrow getting swept quickly away by a deep and burning anger. She felt power, not her own, course through her at the thought of his death. These monsters had broken into her home, injured her, murdered her best friend, and were now proceeding to simply sit around the place, like it was theirs, waiting to kill the only people left to her in this world. She felt her limbs beginning to tingle, the anger galvanizing her resolve as she slowly opened her eyes. She would have revenge. She would end them all. Power that she didn't know drove her to her feet, chilling her whole body so that her breath came out in a mist before her. She felt the chill in her soul, granting her strength, though where it came from was still a mystery. She pushed the thought away, she would question the why later, after it wasn't needed. For now she just focused, turning her eyes to the mass of masked bodies before her. Jane was there, unconscious on the floor and a man, if you could call him that, was standing over her, a mass of red mist hovering in the air before him. The Aether. So this was Malekith. She noticed, somewhere under the burning anger and freezing power, that he was not as big as she thought he'd be. He seemed almost small to her now, something to be “handled”. 

His eyes leveled on her as she began to move, no doubt wondering what she hoped to accomplish, weak thing that she was. But he didn't know. He didn't understand that she was so much more than that right now. She had taken power from something far greater than herself, and she intended to use it to lethal effect. Two soldiers charged her, intent on subduing her. They never got the chance. She gestured, simply waved a hand to them, and they fell, frozen and dead. More came and she dispatched them just as quickly, littering her living room with frozen elven corpses, their featureless masks cracking so that the dark skin below was exposed. Malekith stilled any further movement, allowing the Aether to hover before him as he moved forward. He raised a hand, intent on ending her himself, but as met with an icy blast of air that surrounded both the Aether and himself in a sheet of solid ice. It began to chip almost immediately, his own power rising to meet that which she had borrowed, but she didn't give him a chance to recover. The Aether broke free first, swarming around its creator in an almost protective gesture, taking the brunt of the next blast, icy shards, sharp as knives. Malekith cried out as his body came free, several of the shards now imbedded in his arm and shoulder. They began to melt instantly, dripping a pinkish tinge onto the grey carpet. 

He turned to her, ripping the remaining shards from his arm, dark blood dripping down to mix with pink. She had a moment to wonder where the pink had come from, if he didn't bleed red, before she realized. The cold was beginning to retreat inward, the shards had not just manifested from her hand, they had come through her hand. She looked down to see the hundreds of needle sized marks beginning to well up with fresh, scarlet blood. It shook her resolve enough for Malekith to get one hit in edgeways. It was all he needed. His weapon connected with her hip hard, slamming her sideways into the table. Her body bent around it as it was upset and thrown to the side, sending her tumbling to rest at the mouth of the hallway, stunned and injured, the power fading quickly away from her. But she had wounded him, kept him from absorbing the Aether, and she heard, just as her consciousness began to fade, the tell tale scream of an enraged Asgardian prince. Her vision was blinded with light as her eyes closed, but she thought she saw a figure approach her, a mass of wavy black hair tumbling into her face as a body collided with hers.

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Loki was the first in the room, charging forward and gathering up the women, shielding them as best he could with his body as his brother showered the room with great forking strikes of lightning. It was enough to make his skin shiver as the power swarmed around him. Malekith let out a shriek of pain, gathering the cloud in a mass around him and fading from the room as if he'd never been. The soldiers, now beginning to thaw, lay in pools of frigid water, their bodies still and lifeless. It was the coldness that brought both brothers down from their battle high and grounded them in the present. The apartment had been utterly destroyed. Furniture was upturned, broken, there were blood smears over the carpet and corpses everywhere.

“Who did all this?” Thor looked around, seeing the last of the melting frost on the walls. It was like something he'd seen his brother do, but only when pushed to the absolute limit. Loki didn't respond, something that was odd for him after a battle. He was fixated on Riley, staring down at her with something akin to awe on his face. Thor came even with his brother's kneeling form and drew in a breath of surprise. Her body was slowly fading back to human color, the faint traces of icy blue runes receding back under the small shirt she wore. Her hands were bleeding badly, the skin looking like it had been ripped through with glass, or ice. Her wrists and ankles were blackened and her side was burned. She looked as if she had been in battle.

“I think she did.” Loki's response was soft, his body moving slowly to pick up the limp form and carry her away from the carnage around them. “See to the scientist brother, and get rid of these things. I will watch them.” He disappeared into the bedroom, returning a moment later for the still unconscious Jane. Thor growled softly, not fond of the idea of leaving the woman he loved with his vengeful brother. But it had to be done and the last thing the women would want to wake up to would be a room full of corpses. He sighed, setting his hammer on the ground and piled the elven corpses up, two or three at a time, and carries them to the window at the end of the outside hallway, chucking them out and into a dumpster. They did not deserve a proper burial, they were without honor and thus they would be disposed of. James, on the other hand, gave him pause. He hadn't gotten to know the little man very well, too busy trying to prevent this very thing from happening, but he had grown fond of him none the less. His strangeness reminded Thor of Erik Selvig, if he'd been about thirty years younger. He felt his heart lurch at the thought of what Riley would go through once she awoke. Thor lifted the body carefully, examining the expression on his face. He looked peaceful, like he had been unaware of his impending death. That was a small blessing at least. The man had died happy, surrounded by friends, and good food. It was a good death.

Thor stepped to the window, hoisting the body up over his shoulder and taking off from the small cement window sill, going to the nearest cemetery and finding a small, out of the way corner, someplace no one would check. He laid the body out, creating a small hole, about five feet deep, wide enough to comfortably fit the scientist's thin frame, and lowered the body into it. He resettled the earth, smoothing it as best he could and went in search of a marker. He found a large stone, something he would have been happy with as a grave stone, were it him in the ground, and carved ancient runes of protection into it, imbuing it with a small modicum of his power, just enough to make sure the grave was not disturbed, and sunk it into the ground at the head of the grave. It was not the warrior's memorial he would have wished, but it was the custom of the people of the world and it would give Riley a place to say goodbye. 

With the deed done, he took off, anxious to get back to the apartment complex, to his Jane. It was not a long trip, he had spent maybe an hour on the task, but as he neared the street where Riley's building sat, short against all the taller complexes around it, he saw that the building had vanished. Loki stood atop the building, his hands moving in slow circles. He landed beside his brother, trusting that there was something solid below him upon which to stand and stood, silent and patient.

“They are sleeping. I have seen to Riley's wounds and your precious Jane is already recovering from the Aether's damage.” He didn't say anything further, simply finishing the spell he had been weaving and moving to the now invisible door that would lead back to the inside hallway of the complex. Thor followed, still in silent thought, his mind once again on the problem of the Aether and how to stop it. The apartment was warmer than it had been when they arrived, the stains and water were gone, the blood wiped clean, the furniture reset and mended and Thor caught himself looking at his brother with something akin to surprise. Loki had mended the whole place, hidden or removed the evidence of the struggle and, this drew his attention, though he didn't understand why, replaced the Rune stones on the woman's altar. It was a small detail, but it pulled a small smile to Thor's face as he looked at the frost giant next to him. He sighed, going to settle on the couch, his head dropping to the armrest, already heavy with weariness. He saw Loki disappear down the hall, presumably to check on the girls, and then he knew no more.

Loki stepped into the darkened bedroom, watching the lengthening shadows play over Riley's face. He'd felt her, on his way here, he'd felt her in his mind. She'd seen his mind for what it truly was, seen his soul, and she had touched it. She had taken it into herself. He felt for the familiar pain, the old resentment and anger that had driven him for so long. It was still there, fueling his power, but it was less than it had been, smaller, quieter. He tested a few tricks, just to see if his power, too, had lessened, but found that it was stronger. He felt it flow more freely than he had in years. It was like something had been choking it, letting it out in small doses, greedily hording it for that one moment when he would truly shine. But now it was there, at his fingertips, frosty and soothing and calm, simply there. He looked to the woman again, feeling tears, true tears, well up in his eyes for the first time since he had confronted Odin about his true parentage. He felt something, he couldn't quite name. Was it gratitude? She had taken something from him, a burden that he had not known how to be rid of, that he had not known was weighing so much on him. She had simply taken it from him and used it. She had wrought such terrible vengeance on those creatures that he had felt a spark of pride, somewhere in the mass of anxiety he'd felt at seeing her blue, limp body splayed almost unnaturally against the floor. It was all so new to him now. His shield, so carefully constructed of shattered pride and rock hard anger, was gone, blown apart by one simple human mind. 

He reached out to her, his hand brushing against her skin, now comfortably warm against his hand and sighed. He had taken something of hers, and she had returned the favor. It was almost comical. But what wounds had she received for her troubles? He had burns and scratches to show for his attempted theft, though the damn stones had never worked for him properly anyway. But what would she have. Her physical wounds were enough to show that she had indeed used his power. He felt another spark of pride at that thought. The human woman who could match wits with him and worshiped an effigy of him was also the first human to ever harness the power of his people and not die for the attempt. But it was a cold destructive thing, it was not meant for such a warm blooded and warm hearted people. It could very well end her, even now, if she ever reached for it again. He could feel a tiny spark of it left, nestled just behind her heart, seated in her own, much warmer and more abundant energy, hiding, recharging. It would have to be dealt with. But for now he would let her rest, and grieve. He sighed again, his chest feeling oddly light and heavy at the same time, and stood from his kneeling position. He searched him memory for when he had knelt beside her, why he had been so close to her, but found no explanation. He was just tired. It was hard work, covering an entire building with both barrier and concealment magics. He would sleep now, and worry later. For the first time in far too many years, he had peace of mind, and he intended to enjoy it before more problems ruined it for him.


	6. His Time and Her Time

Jane was up first. She all but bounded out of the room, a mixture of happiness and anxiety on her face. Thor caught her up in a tight embrace, kissing her softly. Loki groaned in the background. Sometimes he wished he had someone, just so he could torment his brother with overt displays. But a part of him couldn't really begrudge his brother his love. He would want to show the world as well, if he had something that pure. Jane launched into an explanation of what had happened. How Malekith had broken into the apartment and taken out both Riley and James. She mentioned how Riley had been going for a knife, even as she was struck and Loki felt another shock of pride. Why did he care so much what this human did? It was stupid to be feeling pride for so low a being. Still, she was beginning to earn his very grudging respect and he was unsure how he felt about that fact.

Jane had to pause as she spoke of James, her eyes glistening with tears as she described it. Apparently, he hadn't even had time to realize something was wrong before on of the soldiers had ended his life. Both Thor and Loki growled at this. It was the worst crime one could commit in battle. You always faced your enemy. Loki had a personal code about what was allowed after that, sneaky underhanded tricks being his stock and trade, but he always let his opponent know that his death was imminent. To simply kill a man, no warning, no chance to defend himself, it was despicable and worthy of the messy death the soldiers had suffered. He shook himself out of his thoughts, rejoining the conversation in time to hear about how Malekith had tried to convince Jane out from under the table by breaking a few more of Riley's minor bones. Jane guessed a couple fingers and a rib from the sound of things, but she couldn't be sure.

Loki rolled his eyes and the story paused yet again as Jane inquired several times of the the state of Riley's own health. It took several reassurances from both Thor and himself, as well as a very quick account of his treatment before she would move on. Finally, she came to the meat of the subject. Malekith had listened for her breathing, something that Loki could remember doing more than once, and dragged her from under the table. He'd proceeded to threaten and bluster, Loki felt safe tuning this part out, rejoining the conversation once she'd finished relating how scared she was, and perked up at the mention of the Aether. So he hadn't yet absorbed it. That meant it was still vulnerable. It was enough for him to devote his entire attention to the conversation. 

After he's pulled the Aether from her, he'd tossed her to the side, intent on killing her once he'd absorbed the Aether. His men had been moving the bodies to the side, so that when the inevitable fight happened, they wouldn't be underfoot. Jane remembered thinking that Riley had been dead, she was so still, her breathing practically stilled. But that was when she saw the rings appear on the girl's exposed wrists and ankles. They had simply blackened, the line starting at one side of her wrist and twisting around to form perfect circles on her skin. She'd twitched slightly, her face screwing up into something like a mixture of pain and fear before relaxing into corpse-like stillness. It took another minute or two to get to the part he really wanted to hear. Jane shook as she recounted the battle.

It had been so quick and terrifying. Riley had begun to move in earnest, her hand searching out James' next to her. She'd tried to wake him, not realizing he was dead. After the realization set in, her body had stilled once again, but it had felt wrong somehow, like the lack of wind before a thunder storm. Then, she'd simply been standing, her skin blue and carved with runes and lines. Her eyes had turned a icy white, ringed with red and her face had been a mask of anger. Jane remembered feeling afraid for herself. Riley looked like an avenging angel, come to take retribution against those who'd wronged her. She remembered the first charge, the two elves had run forward, weapons firing, but the energy seemed to just stop, fading before it hit her. She'd opened her mouth in an ungodly scream and whipped them aside, flash freezing them both. The scream never stopped. She must've taken a breath at some point, no one can scream that long without air, but Jane couldn't remember it. She just remembered the hellish sound, reverberating around her as body after body fell around her, and then there was silence. She'd looked up, seeing Riley looking down at her own hand, the anger finally bleeding away from her features. Malekith had come to his feet at some point, he was now holding his shoulder. Jane said icicles had been embedded in it. Loki felt a smirk cross his face at that. She'd actually hurt him then, good girl.

Jane paused, her whole body shaking in her lover's arms. She had to stop and gather her thoughts before continuing. It had been horrible to watch this far, but she knew she might be needed. She hiccuped as a sob fought its way out of her. Loki wondered at this, listening as she apologized to them both for losing the Aether and not protecting Riley better. The little mortal actually felt responsible for this? He sighed softly, waiting for her over active conscience to subside. After a few minutes of calm breathing and whispered reassurances from Thor, she continued. Malekith had pulled one of the ice shards from his arm, dropping it into the pink tinged stain. Jane remembered being confused by the color of his blood. But as she looked up, she saw Riley's hand was practically pouring blood, the skin looking beyond abused. And then Malekith had attacked, swinging a club like weapon into her side. She flew into the table, her body bending into an unnatural angle, carrying the table over in its momentum and causing her to tumble to the floor where they'd found her. Jane had taken that moment to move over to her, ready to shield her with her own body if needed. But that was then they'd arrived and she'd dropped into blessed unconsciousness. 

The retelling proved too much for her composure and she collapsed into tears against her lover's chest. It was enough to drive Loki from the room. He had known that Riley had used his power, had taken out far more opponents than she should have been able to, but the description had sounded like something out of a nightmare. What had his power done to her? Why had she been screaming? What had she seen when she was inside him? 

That thought brought something to the fore of him mind, something he'd been ignoring to this point. He could still feel a glimmer of her presence inside himself. It was an odd sensation. It was like a channel had opened, a clear moving stream, held grounded by a bed of smooth stones. It always seemed to come back to that with her. She'd been stalwart, if shaken, when they'd first arrived. She'd suffered his every whim and question with unshakable purpose. It was as if she were a stone, surrounded by water, grounded but fluid, adaptable. And now he felt it, within himself. She had left something in the place of his anger, when she'd taken it. She'd left a part of herself behind. It was oddly comforting, but disturbing at the same time. What would this do to him? What had it done to her? There were too many questions and no answers. He felt himself beginning to circle frustration, his mind spinning around all the possible outcomes of when she awoke. He knew one thing for certain, it would not be easy.

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Riley was back on the beach, but the water was no longer green. It was blue and clear and cool against her skin, small pebbles gently pressing into her back, arms and legs, massaging the cold and pain from her. It was like something was slowly draining out of her, not leaving, just separating. It traveled through the water, leaving a visible trail of fast melting frost in its wake, going to take refuge in the icy depths of her power. She knew of those depths, knew they existed, in theory, but had never dared dive that deep. Her grandmother had warned her once, when she was a child, that sometimes stories existed for a reason. It had been after her education about the Norse mythology, the frost giants, the gods battling against each other. It had all fascinated her, but nothing more than the power of the Trickster God. She'd asked one day, if she could one day be that powerful. If, instead of mild energy work and kitchen witchery, she could be a real sorceress like in her books. Her grandmother had merely smiled and said...

“People aren't meant to have that kind of power little bean.” The voice was so close to her, like it was coming from the warm sand under her head. It wasn't until the feet dug into the sand beside her that she realized she wasn't alone. She sat up out of the water, slowly scooting back to sit even with the older woman.

“Mammaw, what is this place? How are you here?” She turned to look into the wrinkled face and felt a soft sadness well up in her. She'd missed that face so much.

“This is you sweety.” She gestured to the vast ocean. “This is your soul, your power. Look how much there is. I always said you were somethin' special didn't I?” She smiled, the crow's feet at the corners of her eyes deepening.

“I never did understand what you meant by that. I still don't. How can this be me? Where does it stop? How is it all here?” She looked around, feeling a breeze kick up as her worry rose.

“Cause there's more to you than there is to you. Remember that line? That movie used to make you laugh so much.” The old woman laughed softly, the breeze picking up fine tendrils of white hair.

“Yeah, The Producers. You made me watch it after I didn't get into the school play. It rained for a week straight.” She smiled, the wind settling into a gentle swirl. “I guess you're gonna tell me that was me too huh?” She looked over, a wry smile on her face.

“Nope, it was April. But seriously bean, you need to figure this out. There's a man out there, like nothin' you've ever met. He's a difficult one, I'll grant ya, but baby girl he is worth every headache. You've seen him, the true him, felt him. You know what I mean.” Her grandmother nudged her, wiggling her eyebrows at the young woman.

“Mammaw, you seriously need to stop doing that. One, you're old, so creepy. Second, you're dead, so eww. And yeah, I know what you mean. I did feel something. It was like I was here, in my mind, and I was pulled to somewhere else. It was dark there Mammaw, dark and cold and full of pain and sadness. I thought I was gonna drown in it. And then I came to and James was gone. I killed them Mammaw, I killed them all. Every last faceless elf. How could I do that?” She looked over at the woman, expecting the wrinkled face of her grandmother, but it was her mother, care worn but beautiful, staring back at her with a small smile on her face.

“We all do things we aren't proud of sweet heart. They were a threat, they'd killed your friend and meant to do the same to you. You defended yourself. Now, I'm not saying you couldn't have done it better, maybe a little less screaming and bleeding on the carpet, but still, its the thought that counts. You wanted to keep people safe and make sure that people who did wrong got what they deserved. Remember what I told you when you stepped on that bee that stung your friend Billy? Sometimes you get Karma, and sometimes, you are Karma. Get it?” She winked, reaching an arm around her daughter's shoulders and pulling her close.

Riley closed her eyes, feeling the wind kick up even harder, the bright sunshine started to cloud over, the temperature beginning to drop. She wanted so much for this to be real, for the world to just stop, leave her behind so that she could live here, in her mind forever, wrapped in the warmth and love of her teachers and family. 

“Oh hush now love. I know. You miss us and think it isn't fair that we were taken from you. That we left you to figure this out on you own. And you're right, it's not fair. But neither is life. The key to surviving it, and staying sane, is finding someone who can help you even the odds.” Her mother's voice sounded faint, growing more and more distant by the second, and another hand replaced the warm smooth flesh of her mother. It was cold and heavy, like metal and leather, rubbing against her, pushing her back until she was laying down, rain and wind whipping above her. It was cool, but not cold, and, though she missed the calm sunshine, she thrilled at the change. She opened her eyes to see the grinning face of Loki above her. His hair was plastered back against his head and water dripped from his face, trailing down to his lips and chin. It sent a spark of pure desire down her spine and she felt something click into place. He helped her to her feet, holding her so close their faces were almost touching.

“Are you finished? Because we've got work to do.”

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Thor found Loki sitting beside the bed, his hands steepled together as he regarded the changing expression on Riley's face. It seemed to be flashing through an entire conversation's worth of moods, all in a few minutes. Whatever she was dreaming of, it was definitely important. He pulled a small chest up next to the one his brother was seated on and waited for the other man to greet him. It took a moment but Loki eventually turned to look at him.

“Do you need something Thor?” He sounded tired and confused, something Thor hadn't heard in far too long. It gave his heart a pang of hope, hope that his brother, the man he'd grown up to know, was still in there somewhere.

“You seem, distracted, and different. What do you know that you aren't telling me?” He tried to keep the suspicion out of his voice, make it sound conversational, but could tell he had failed.

“Nothing world ending. It is personal, and I would prefer it remain that way.” Loki moved to turn again, his mind already drifting back to whatever he had been considering before Thor had spoken.

“Loki, please. I know your better than you think. Something is troubling you, something you cannot figure out on your own. Perhaps I could help.” He knew he sounded like a hopeful fool, but he felt like he was on the verge of regaining something he thought long gone. He expected a fight, a battle of wits and attitudes until Loki simply grew tired of his stubbornness. But the other man simply wilted, turning, a look of almost childish confusion on his face. 

“She distracts me brother. I do not understand how one mortal could get further inside me than all the most talented magicians combined. Not ever Thanos was able to do what she has done. It should anger me, but the anger will not come to me. All I feel is pride and a kind of grudging respect that I never thought I would feel for anyone. But she is mortal, a Midgardian, below me in every way. So how is it that she has done this thing that so many have attempted?” He looked truly lost, he knew. He shouldn't be sharing this, least of all with Thor, who would take it as an opportunity to play the elder brother once more. But he needed to get it out of his own mind before it drove him mad.

“I do not understand brother. What has she done?” Thor hated to ask, he feared that his brother would set on him like a wolf on a rabbit, but the man just sighed, seemingly relieved to simply be speaking with someone. He drew in a breath, closing his eyes as tears glimmered in them. It was heart breaking to watch, the battle of emotions that he fought to control. Thor respected, perhaps for the first time, what a complicated being his brother truly was. He had always made light of his emotions, playing off his magical abilities as simply a crutch to make up for his lack of physical power, but now he saw, it was power in and of itself. The only difference between Loki's magic and Mjolnir is that, if his brother lost focus for even a moment, his magic would swallow him whole. He began to understand now, how, perhaps, some of his brother's trouble, was, in point of fact, his fault. It was a painful realization, that he had caused some of the damage he so hated, simply by ignoring the needs of someone who'd been depending on him.

“Thor, you know nothing of magic, or magical powers, so I will attempt to be brief. At the heart of every magician, there is a well spring of power. This well takes many shapes, shifting to fit the user. My own well has long been a torrential place, a maelstrom of conflicting emotions and ideas. It is why I have always tended toward mischief, easy and relaxing. If another user were to reach my well, touch that part of my soul, they would know everything about me. They would see my memories, know all my secrets, understand my power, and, if they were so inclined, steal it from me. Riley has done this. She has reached my well. It happened while she was unconscious, during the struggle against Malekith. I don't think she understood what she was doing, what she was seeing. Her soul ran to the first point of power it could find, to hide from what was happening around her and stay safe from the stronger power that was seeking to conquer her.” He took a breath, his hand pressed to his chest as if it hurt. Thor tried to keep the concern from his face, hide the fact that he wanted nothing more than to take his brother in his arms and hold on until he returned to the intelligent, funny and reliable man he'd known. Loki saw this and sighed, his eyes closing again, clearly fighting with himself about going any further. Thor began to form an argument, hoping to at least keep him talking, but it proved unnecessary.

“I said before that a strong enough user could steal my power from me, and that is true, but only with intent. Riley, has taken something from me, without intent. She merely saw it, judged that it did not belong, and pulled it away with her soul when it returned to her own body. But it was not my power, not truly. It was what I had convinced myself was necessary to remain strong.” He looked up at his brother, not bothering to hide the tears anymore. He was more confused and conflicted than he could ever remember feeling.

“What did she take brother.” Thor's face was a mask of interest and mild anger. He had a sudden urge to shake the woman awake and make her answer for herself.

“She took my pain. All the years of torment and shunning, it's gone.” Loki's voice was almost to quiet to hear, but the message reached through none the less. Thor didn't know how to respond. His mind was reeling. No wonder he was acting so odd, something he'd carried for centuries, according to him at least, had been removed. He was trying to figure out who to be now. This was something Thor knew well. He started forward, intent on hugging his sibling until he could no longer breathe, only to be stopped by an invisible wall. A small smile appeared on his brother's lips, bringing back the face of the enemy he had known. “Not yet, brother. There is still much to do. Leave me now, I need to think.” He turned his back entirely, his gaze returning to Riley in a decided gesture of dismissal. 

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Riley ran after Loki on the beach. The rain all but blinded her as she tried to keep up but he never seemed to hear her when she asked him to slow down. He would just disappear around a bend or over a hill and she would fall, feeling suddenly exhausted, only to reappear beside her, helping her up with that same grin and pulling her along behind him once again. She wondered what the point of it was, they never seemed to get anywhere, but she was no longer feeling the crushing agony of loss and sadness, so she kept running. Perhaps she could outrun it all, the pain of James' death. The quiet sadness over her mother and grandmother. The fear of the world around her. Maybe she could just live here, run from it all and find a place to build a new life. She wouldn't really mind living in the rain. Sure it was a little cold, but the air around it was hot and muggy, so it was really like living under a water sprinkler in the summer. So long as she had a roof to keep her bed dry and a fire place to dry off by, she could be pretty damn happy here.

She'd slowed down as she thought, her wanderings weighing her down so that her feet felt like lead as she lifted them. She looked up, Loki was nothing but a shadow in front of her now, and she felt a sudden pang of fear, kicking herself for getting distracted. She redoubled her efforts, digging into the sand around her and shooting forward, her only goal, catching the green clad god before he left her behind again. It would seem that this was the key because before she knew it, she had drawn even with him, and then left him behind, racing ahead of him, down to the shore line and into the shallows. She didn't know why it felt right to do this, it just did. She looked up, her already soaked shirt now clinging to her chest and felt a stupid smile cross her face. Loki stood above her, everything but his tight leggings, magically gone. He slid down into the water beside her, his body radiating a kind of pleasant cold, like what you get on the outside of a pop can at a pool party. He didn't speak, merely sat beside her, one of his hands finding hers in the water and holding on tight. He held them up, showing her that the black ring on her wrist matched the white runic markings on his. She gasped, looking over at him, her face feeling suddenly hot. 

“So it is you.” She couldn't keep the smile from her face as something settled in her chest, her heart felt almost weightless. No, weightless wasn't the right word for it. It was like the sensation you get when you are in water that is the perfect temperature. She felt, just right. There was no other way to put it. She felt ready. She didn't want to go, didn't want to leave the grinning god that seemed to exist only in her head, but she knew she had to wake up sooner or later. She gathered her breath and her will power and took a running dive into the deeper waters, swimming as far down as she could. The water got colder, heavier, she had to fight for each stroke. A light was shimmering on the sea bed, taunting her, teasing her with its nearness. She felt herself grin, her arms suddenly feeling feather light as she powered through the water, holding onto the rock at the bottom. The light was coming from a small crack in it. Through the crack she could see herself. Small time kitchen witch with delusions of grandeur that she had always been. Well, that was about to change. She reared back, driving both hands with superhuman force onto the rock, releasing all the pent up power into her conscious self, rejoining her body at last.


	7. An Understanding

She shot to full consciousness with a gasp of pain. Her heart, previously beating sedately in her chest, rocketed into an almost arrhythmic speed in a matter of seconds as her conscious mind struggled to accept everything her subconscious had experienced during its hibernation. She remembered it all, the conversation, the warmth of the sand against her skin, the soothing cold of the god that had led her to the truth of her own power. But she also remembered the pain, the loss and trauma that had led to the need for the hibernation in the first place. She felt her heart, still beating far too quickly, convulse at the memory of James' face, still locked in a look of calm serenity, unaware of who had brought his life to an end or why. It was this image that drove her from the bed, moving blindly past the dumb founded god that had sprung away from the bed at her sudden movements to the small bathroom across the hall. She fell into the toilet, emptying what little was left in her stomach into the porcelain bowl, bringing a sound of disgust from the bedroom. 

“Riley?” Jane had appeared at the doorway, the sound of movement drawing her to her friend's side. “Are you okay sweetie?” She knelt by the still shaking woman, rubbing small circles in the center of her back as she heaved. 

“Can I have a towel please?” Riley hated how small her voice sounded. She knew she was in shock and that it would take her mind time to come to terms with what her soul had already accepted, but she wished she sounded even a fraction as confident and strong as she felt. Jane muttered some kind of platitude, she wasn't really paying attention at this point, and disappeared, reappearing a moment later with a wet washcloth and a fluffy towel. It was one of the purple set that her mother had helped her pick out when she'd first moved away from home and the sight of it brought on a kind of peace that helped her to focus. She began to wipe at her face, cooling the suddenly feverish skin with the damp fabric, feeling the chills radiate through her, soothing and familiar.

“Feeling a little better?” Jane's voice cut through the fog of shock and mixed memories, bringing her back and firmly grounding her in the moment.

“Yeah, sorry, not sure exactly what that was.” She tried to grin, flushing the toilet and standing on shaky legs. She felt like she'd been sleeping for days, her body was heavy and weak and she knew she must look like a mess to the three people now staring in at her.

“I am pleased to see you are awake. You still appear weak, perhaps you would like to rest some more?” Thor's voice echoed oddly in the small room and it brought her attention to the growing pain in her head. It was like her body had been put through hell and glued back together. She felt strong and whole inside, but the physical form was still fragile. It was an interesting feeling from a scientific perspective, but not at all pleasant to go through.

“No, I think I've had enough rest. How long was I out?” She turned to Jane, knowing she would get a straight answer out of the woman.

“About two and a half days. We were getting a little worried honestly, I mean, after what happened and the kind of damage they did to you, I was afraid you wouldn't wake up at all. Your heart all by stopped a couple times.” Her face drained of color as she spoke. Riley felt a new respect rise in her for the woman, she had already seemed sweet, but she seemed to genuinely care. She smiled softly, nodding and sighing.

“Well, after two and half days, I need a shower. I don't know if Asgardian senses are heightened or not, but I would imagine I don't smell too pretty regardless.” She let the sentence hang in the air a moment, hoping the others would get the picture, but her stomach chose that moment to register its complaint at being empty, filling the tiled room with an echoing growl. 

“And I'll make you some food while you get cleaned up.” Jane smiled, forestalling any argument by sweeping almost gracefully out of the room. Riley wanted to call after her, tell her not to worry about it, that she could fix her own food, but two towels stuffed into her arms and a sneer as the door closed kept her rooted to the spot. She'd just been herded by two gods and a scientist. She laughed softly as she laid the towels on the counter, turning to put the water on when the room's temperature took a sudden nose dive. It wasn't frigid, but it was rapidly approaching icy.

“Hello Riley.” The voice was so different from that of her dream. In that realm, he'd been sarcastic, true, but also gentle and almost playful with her. This voice was full of scorn and a very poorly concealed anger that set her teeth on edge.

“Something I can do for you Loki?” She turned, letting the steam circle around her as it rose from the tub's floor.

“I believe I am owed an explanation.” He took a step forward, crowding her back toward the tile wall.

“Oh? What for, might I ask?” She winced inwardly, wishing she could come up with a better come back.

“How did you come by such a formidable power?” He put a hand on the wall beside her head, a small web of frost beginning to spread around his hand.

“I'm sure I don't know what you mean.” She smiled, moving to turn away, only to be blocked by his other hand.

“Oh I think you do. I think you know exactly what I mean, little mortal, and I think you know exactly how much danger you have put us all in.” He all but growled the last few words, leaning so close she could feel his breath, a cool breeze against her face.

“Loki, please, menacing is the last thing I need right now. I know what you are talking about, but I don't know the why or the how and am in no state of mind to figure out either one right now. Please just go away and let me get cleaned up.” Once again her voice had taken on the quiet weak tone that she was quickly learning to hate and she cursed herself as she watched a grin spread across his face, the frost reaching out and touching the skin of her arms.

“Come now, Riley, this is hardly the fire I have come to expect from you. Where is the woman who tossed a bottle at me? Perhaps I should steal something from you again?” His hand moved, grabbing the strap of her tank top in a vice like grip.

“Don't you dare.” She felt her blood start to rush, the temperature of the room no longer seeming to worry her. 

“Oh, I think I shall dare, my dear.” His grin turned almost evil, his arm jerking, taking half her tank top with it. Her arms flew up to cover the skin left bare by the removal, her mind buzzing with anger. How dare this bastard torment her like this, after all she'd been through. She growled, the sound resonating low in her chest, ignoring the look of sudden shock on Loki's face as she slowly lowered one hand. She didn't see the frost spreading from her own body. It wasn't until he had been pushed back against the opposite wall, pinned there by a fine layer of ice, that she realized what she'd done. The door burst open just as she was sinking to the floor, arms circled around her middle, the wound in her hand broken open and freshly bleeding. Thor leveled a look of pure anger at his brother, taking a few swift steps across the room, breaking the ice with ease and hauling the man bodily from the room. Jane rushed in after him, shutting off the water and kneeling beside the now openly weeping Riley.

It took a few minutes for her to calm down, her body still shook as she recounted the conversation with the trickster god, but at the end of it, Jane was ready to kill him herself. Riley shook her away as she tried to bring her into an embrace, pleading exhaustion and a desperate need for a shower to back out of the conversation. Jane sighed, giving her a look of clear disbelief before rising and leaving the room. Riley took a moment to make sure the door was locked before turning the water back on. She shucked out of her clothes quickly, vowing to burn them the first moment she got and stepped into the almost steaming hot spray. It felt like heaven.

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Loki paced the length of the living room, ignoring the berating that both Thor and his woman were trying to level at him. Honestly, did the mortal think he would listen to her? His brother should know better by now. He would nod and look his approximation of contrite, appease his brother's ridiculous honor code and then resume his plan as if he had never been interrupted. Riley, that insufferable witch, had taken a piece of him. He ignored the small voice in his mind that said it was a part he didn't particularly like and settled instead on irritation. Not only had she invaded his mind and stolen a piece of it, but she had bested him at his own game. He had never been hit with one of his own attacks before and he would be damned if he would let a mortal get away with embarrassing him in such a way. 

He growled out an apology when the two mother hens had finally stopped talking, promising to never do it again and everything else they asked, fighting the urge to simply end them where they stood. Neither believed him, he could tell. They knew he meant to continue on as if nothing had changed but seemed content for the moment that the words had passed his lips. He waited a moment, giving them time to speak again, should they wish to, at their continued silence he bowed and turned, walking quickly down the hall to the bedroom and closing the door. He had tried the bathroom door on the way and found it locked, he would have to wait for her to return here if he wished to get the answer he needed. 

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The shower water felt like liquid peace. It seemed to suffuse her being, bolstering her rapidly flagging stamina. She sagged against the wall, tears welling up and being washed away before they had time to fall. She knew this part would come, knew it was natural and even healthy, but she hated it none the less. Crying was not something she did, it never had been, yet the tears came. She had tried to hold them back, ignore the pull of the muscles around her lips, forcing them down, but the pressure began to build in her chest, like a dam had broken inside her and she felt she would drown if she didn't let it out. She fell against the wall, a strangled sob rising out of her as her body crumbled to the floor. It took several moments of chest wrenching, angry grieving before she was able to regain her feet, but finally she could feel the weight ease until, at last, it was just a silent stream of tears against the spray of the shower. 

After a few more moments, she actually began to get herself clean. She shampooed her hair, repeating the process, just to be sure, and working conditioner through the tangles. She must've been thrashing in her sleep, at least at one point, she only ever got knots like these when she had nightmares. Just to have clean hair made her feel so much more human, but the steam had heightened her sense of smell to the point that she could smell exactly how dirty she was. She grabbed her bar of soap, ignoring the sting of the raw skin on her palm. She lathered up quickly, scrubbing her skin until it was a bright pink, setting the soap back in the dish, wincing as it came away red. She looked down at her hands, dreading the damage she would see there, but it seemed that it was either too minute to see, or something that simply hadn't left a mark because other than a single cut, something she must've gotten when she fell, there were no marks, just blood. She shivered, rinsing it and the soap away and stepping out of the shower. The water was tinged pink as it drained and she groaned when she saw the faintly bloody palm print on the towel. That would never wash out.

She wrapped up quickly, one towel around her dripping hair and the other barely clinging to the damp skin of her breast. She didn't know where in the apartment everyone was so she opened the door and bolted as quick as she could to her room, hoping to avoid flashing everyone on the way. There were no gasps or giggles from the living room so she assumed she had succeeded. It wasn't until she heard the quiet gasp from behind her that she realized she wasn't alone. She turned slowly, holding her towel firmly in place, dreading what she knew would meet her gaze. 

Loki stared at her, a mixture of shock, appreciation and anger on his face. His eyes traveled up her freshly washed form, stopping at the blood stains on the purple cloth with a moment of concern before leveling with her own hazel orbs. She clutched the towel closer to herself, hoping she wasn't inadvertently giving him a show, feeling the anger rise in her once again.

“My, Riley, I didn't know you felt that way for me.” He grinned, that smug bastard was actually grinning at her right now. 

“You have exactly five seconds to make yourself scarce before I find out exactly how cold I can make you.” She growled, her hand tightening almost painfully around the fabric.

“And if I do not wish to leave?” He began to walk forward, his steps calm and measured. Riley moved, thrusting her hand out, only to have it caught and pinned against her side. “Do not play at power with me mortal, you will lose. As to how cold it can become, well, if you really wish to know.” His voice lowered to a dangerous base, his breath misting between them as the room dropped to sub arctic temperatures. “Remember, I am of Jotunnheim, the cold does not bother me.” He inhaled slowly. Riley seethed inside, fighting for every breath, the air feeling like ice inside her lungs. She saw the edges of her vision beginning to blacken, her brain struggling for oxygen and losing, rapidly. Just as the blackness was closing in, the room returned to normal, the air suddenly warm against her skin and air rushing into her lungs so quickly it made her head spin.

“Ass.” She wished the words had come out strong and unaffected but she knew how weak she sounded, all but sagged against him, lacking the strength to stand on her own. She expected him to push her away, but felt, instead, the soft strength of his arms supporting her, holding her against him as she recovered her strength. 

“Let this be a lesson to you Riley. You may have taken a portion of my power but you lack the will to use it to its full extent and your body is not prepared to handle its...side effects. I do not wish to fight you. It would do us no good. But I must know how it was done. Why, though it should be impossible, your soul fled to me when you were in need. I must know if it is a weakness. Do you understand?” He lifted her chin, forcing her eyes to meet his own. She felt the towel slip between them, falling dangerously low along her back, held in place precariously by her chest and his armor. If he moved much more, it would fall.

“I told you, I don't know. I didn't even know it was you I found until it was too late. All I know is that I needed help and there you were.” She saw his eyes flicker, something behind the sarcasm and classist speciesism brightened.

“How is it possible? What are you that you could wield power such as mine and live?” He lowered his face to hers, gazing into her eyes with an intensity she could almost feel. She felt herself falling before her mind could register she'd slipped, the towel finally giving up the battle with gravity and tangling at her feet. Loki's hands closed around her waist, holding her up, his gaze averted from her now naked form.

“Perhaps we could continue this conversation once I'm not nude?” She tried to make it sound casual, joking, like it didn't matter that he of all people had seen her sans apparel, but she knew her face must be as red as a damn cherry. He sighed, setting her back on her feet and turning to face the wall. It took a moment for her to get her bearings, thoroughly thrown by this change in him that seemed to come out of nowhere. Once her mind and body seemed to be once again functional, she walked quickly around the room, gathering up under clothes and a simple outfit, keeping her back to him as much as possible as she pulled on first underwear then jeans. She fumbled with the bra strap a little, her hands still shaking, but finally managed to get herself mostly covered. She slipped an old t-shirt on, a faded band name just visible in the surrounding black. She walked over to him, tapping him on the shoulder as she gathered her hair back. “Listen, I know you want answers, and, for once, I'm willing to cooperate. But I am starving and exhausted and, honestly, I don't know how to deal with you right now. Can you please leave me alone for a little while?” She hoped that at least some part of him was like the man she'd known in her dream, desperately needing to see some compassion from him.

“Very well, I will wait until you have eaten and rested, say, five hours, and then we will continue our discussion.” He swept past her, not waiting for her to agree. She sighed, walking out a few minutes later, hair in a messy braid, hand bound up in an ace bandage and head thoroughly aching. Jane greeted her in the kitchen with a bowl of soup and some crackers and instructed her to sit at the table and eat, offering to redo her hair while she devoured the food in front of her. It was good to be full and warm again. She felt clean and calm for the first time since this whole fiasco had started and when Jane tossed a pack of cigarettes and a lighter to her, she almost cried. Maybe she would be able to deal with all of this after all.

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The five hours had gone too fast for her liking. She'd smoked a good fourth of the pack Jane had given her, researched far too much about the after life and trance states and was just beginning to formulate an idea about what had happened to her when a shadow fell across the book she was reading. It was some trashy dime store romance her mother had given her when she'd moved into the apartment. She laughed at the time, taking her mother's advice to “just unwind sometimes” with a grain of salt. But she'd been right, nothing like a little suspension of disbelief to let the brain mull over deeper things. That time, it would appear, was up now, because Loki was standing beside her, a look of determined calm on his face.

“Are you quite finished? We have things to discuss.” He turned, marching off toward her bedroom, trusting her to follow. She groaned, marking her place in her book and grabbing the pack of cigarettes and the ashtray, lighting one on her way down the hall. Two confused pairs of eyes followed them down the hall, but neither Jane nor Thor felt like kicking that particular hornet's nest and kept wisely silent.

Riley closed the door behind her, settling on the bed and setting the ashtray down in its customary spot on the bed side table. She didn't miss the look of irritation that crossed the god's face, but decided that if he was going to out right assault her, he could deal with a little smoke in his face. “So, where do we start?” She looked over at him, tapping ash off her cigarette.

“What do you know of what happened to you?” He was sitting on her grandmother's hope chest, something else she'd inherited in the move. It struck her, just how much of her stuff she'd received from the women that had gone before her and wondered, for a moment, if they didn't know more than they'd let on.

“Well, I've actually been doing a little research and have come up on a couple theories. One of them is completely stupid and will be called theory B. Theory A goes a little like this. You stole my rune stones, don't argue, you did. Now, those stones have been on my altar for a long time, more than long enough to form a link between my energy and their physical location. When you stole them, you took a little bit of me with them, forming a kind of road. When I was put in danger, shot by whatever the hell those elves carry, my soul fled to the first source of power it could feel secure in, you. Carrying the stones made you a kind of...way station, you opened yourself up to me just by carrying them. Once I was with you, my energy melded with yours, absorbing what I needed to defend myself, but I got caught up in your memories and couldn't get out. I guess when I broke out of your subconscious, I took a little more of you with me that I could handle, hence, what happened after.” She left out the part where he was still with her and had helped guide her through her grief stricken mind and back to consciousness, that would just further complicate things and make this all even weirder than it already was.

Loki, for his part, looked shocked. Clearly he'd been expecting some half assed argument about how she didn't know anything and to just leave her alone. He had not expected her to so accurately sum up and understand what had happened. But she was not treating it with the concern it deserved. She either didn't know, or didn't care about what the implications of their merger would do to them both.

“Yes, it is as you say. I admit to a grudging respect at your comprehension of the situation though there is an aspect you have either missed, or ignored. We are, as you say, linked. A piece of my power, my soul, as you put it, is still within you, just as a piece of you is still within me. This is not something to be made light of. Allow me to demonstrate.” He took out a dagger, pulling it seemingly from nowhere and pricked the palm of his right hand. A sharp pain radiated up her arm and she hissed, looking down at her palm where a small drop of blood had begun to swell to the surface.

“What?” She looked from her hand to his, held before her like some kind of grave sign.

“Yes. Now you understand. I know there is more to this than you are telling me. This would not have occurred simply from what you described. The power you took from me, what little was left after your assault, would have dissipated in a rather painful fever and our link would have broken. I know I have not bonded with the power your stones left in me, so it must have been you. When did it happen? What did you do?” He rose, walking slowly forward, plucking the rapidly dying cigarette from her fingers and snuffing it out against the glass wall of the ashtray.

“I..I don't know.” She felt suddenly threatened, like a wrong word would be all that was needed to end her.

“Do no lie to me.” He leaned down, a hand coming to rest against her neck, a silent promise. She felt tears rise up in her eyes, feeling a chilling sensation race down her spine, the image of the kind god she'd come to know in her mind slowly dying, killed by the icy hatred in Loki's eyes. She turned away from him, scrambling across the bed to rest her feet on the floor on the other side of the bed, the tears splashing silently on the legs of her jeans. “Speak mortal, my patience grows thin.” His voice was steely and cold, like the dagger he still held. She took a breath, turning to face him, her face still wet and stained with tears that fell unhindered down her cheeks. She loathed to tell him what she'd experienced, hated to sully something so perfect and peaceful with the mockery she knew would come, but he wouldn't let her leave this room alive unless she explained so, taking a calming breath, she launched into an explanation of the dream she'd lived and the god she'd met there.

Loki, for his part, was no less conflicted. He'd felt a burgeoning concern for the woman ever since he'd seen her laying on the floor, cold and limp as a fallen warrior. He'd tried to fight it, hoping against hope that it would fade, only to have it freshen with every breath and glance she cast his way. It was maddening to feel such tender emotions for so low a creature. He knew with a certainty he couldn't explain that she was to blame for it. He knew of the link, he could feel it like a physical tether, pulling him to her no matter how he struggled, but the cause was still mystery. He saw the fear and pain in her eyes as he issued his final ultimatum, saw something break and go dark and should have thrilled at his victory, but instead, he felt pain, a lurching, halting kind of pain. He knew it well, guilt, guilt and sadness at having caused her such profound pain. He watched her scramble away, fighting down the urge to follow her, trusting instead in his tried and true methods of intimidation to settle this matter for good and all. It wasn't until she turned, tears still coursing down her cheeks that he felt the determination drain from him. 

She was so small to him then, so sad and pitiful that he felt every inch the monster he had been named. He had taken something strong and powerful and reduced it to a weak little woman, cowering in fear and sorrow in her own bedroom. He was about to speak, to apologize or sooth,if possible, the wound he had opened, when she began to speak, unfolding a recount of the dream she'd had while he sat at her bedside, trying to figure a way to reach her. It was something too beautiful to touch, to pure to sully with his cutting remarks and it explained everything. She had accepted his power as part of herself, incorporated it into her being as fully and completely as if she had been born with it. There was no separating the two now, not without killing them both. The link was permanent. He tried to speak, words, for once, failing to come to him. All he could do was stare at her as she swallowed down another round of tears, waiting for the mocking belittlement she no doubt expected. 

He settled instead for simply nodding and standing, gliding from the room like the icy creature he was, leaving her to break down in peace. He could hear her sobs from the other side of the door, a truly heart breaking sound that pulled on the newly formed link. He almost turned around. He almost went back in, took her in his arms and explained it all. But he was not to be used in such a way. He would not be made the play mate of a mortal, no matter how unique and, though he was loathe to admit it, beautiful, she may be. He took a breath, blocking the sound of her tears from his mind and walked down the hall, settling at the table and selecting a book from the large pile to busy himself with until he could think a way out of this.


	8. A Break and A Battle

Riley sat on her bed, a cigarette between her fingers curling hazy lines of smoke around her face. She watched the smoke trail as the currents of air in the room made it sway and shift. It was a habit she'd developed early on, when she was still hiding her little rebellion from her mother. She remembered how the smoke looked, curling through the beams of moonlight that came through her open window as she sat, perched precariously, on the sill. She remembered dropping the damp butts out that window, always being sure to dunk them in a glass of water first, watching them fall the four stories straight down into the grassy lawn around the apartment build where she'd grown up. But the habit gave no comfort now. No moon beans speared through the gray swirl, lighting it up silver and faintly blue. It was just gray, just smoke, curling around her and giving no relief. She took a long pull, letting the smoke curl out of her mouth and nose in a practiced, lazy exhale that she'd once used to attract all manner of bad boys.

A caustic smile tugged at her lips as she thought of all those young men. She'd never had what most women would call “good taste” when it came to the boys she liked. She wanted all leather jackets, motor cycles and wild underage drinking, not the mathlete on the fast track to wealth and power. It would seem her tastes hadn't changed. Here she was, locked in her bedroom, still crying over the tall drink of icy sarcasm that had been both her savior and her undoing, all in the same few hours. Talk about tall dark and handsome, Loki was the epitome of a “bad boy”. Hell, he even came complete with leather and a bad attitude. Of course she was going to be attracted to him. Of course she was going to start feeling for him. Why wouldn't she. It wasn't like she was an intelligent young woman with the ability to discern this type of problem.

She sighed, pausing her internal berating to put out her cigarette. She shook a new one from the pack, looking at it like it would solve all her problems before she put it to her lips and lit it, taking a long pull and blowing out a perfect smoke ring. She smiled as she watched it drift lazily above her bed. It was a talent that had taken many years to perfect. Cigarette smoke was not like pipe smoke, something she found out the hard way when she tried a pipe for the first time. She learned quickly not to inhale the heavy vapor, it didn't end well. But she had been completely obsessed with the trick of making shapes with the smoke. Her friends, most of which either smoked pipe or hooka, told her that it would be nearly impossible to do with a cigarette as the smoke was too light and dissipated too quickly, but she'd done it. It was a defining trait of hers, accomplishing things that seemed impossible. Just look at her current situation. She shouldn't be alive. She shouldn't be able to push ice bullets out of her hand, she shouldn't be slowly falling in love with the most caustic, sarcastic, insensitive, malicious, irritating piece of handsome ass she'd ever seen. But she could, and she was. 

She groaned, flopping back onto the mattress and ducking the cigarette into the ashtray. What the hell was wrong with her? How the hell had she gotten herself into all this? It wasn't like she asked for it to happen. She just wanted to get paid and make a new friend. Was that so much to ask? Sure she could've gone to any other office in the city and gotten a job. But James had been so sweet and he was affiliated with the school, and the pay scheme had been really great, not to mention he respected her hours requirements. All around, it had been a good, logical decision. So why was she being punished for it now? Why, in all the hells, had the gods, in their apparently demented infinite wisdom, decided to visit this fate on her.

She was interrupted from her internal monologue by a sharp knock on the door. It was too heavy to be Jane and Loki wouldn't knock so she knew who it was before he burst in. His voice, loud and booming, grated across her brain like a saw and the headache she'd been slowly easing, returned with full force.

“Jane has commanded that we are to go out today. She says you are not to be kept in this small house where so many bad memories live. She is taking you out for a “girl's day” and then we shall all dine out. I am supposed to get you up and ready.” He smiled after relaying the message, walking over to the bed and all but hauling her bodily from it. He pulled her into a one armed hug, clearly thinking she needed it, and not being entirely wrong, before setting about turning on lights and opening windows. This must be how it's done in Asgard. “This room is dark and stuffy, you will join us in the living room.” He took her hand, pulling her toward the door before she could shake him off.

“Whoa there big fella. Listen, thanks for the invite, but I'm really not feeling up to any outings right now. I kinda just want to sit in my dark stuffy room and think.” She began to walk back to the bed, only to be stopped by a hand on her shoulder. She turned and was met with the most stern look she'd ever seen on the big man's face.

“You are in mourning. I understand how you feel. I too have lost someone very dear to me. My mother was slain by Malekith's own hand. I know you wish to remove yourself from the world, thinking it will remove you from the pain of the loss, but it will not. It will only make it you feel it all the more. Please come and sit with us, dine with us tonight and forget, for a while, your troubles. Jane cares for you as a friend and worries for you. It will make her happy to see you and I will see to it that Loki does you no harm.” His eyes shone with the sincerity of his words, pulling her against her will into agreeing. She sighed, turning and grabbing her pack, lighter and ashtray and turned, motioning for him to lead the way. Her room needed to air out anyway.

Jane practically squeaked with excitement when Riley agreed to go out with them but it did little to brighten her mood. Depression was something she'd always struggled with. It had always been minor, only really affecting her in times of loss or great disappointment, but when it got its grips into her, it was something she had to fight tooth and nail against, and she didn't really feel like fighting this time. But she knew that if she was going to go out with this motley band of misfits, hopefully to get the boys some more sensible clothes, then she would have to fake it or drag the whole group down. So she steeled herself for the chipper chatter and excited shopping that was sure to follow and grabbed her keys and purse, shoving a couple more packs of cigarettes as well as her “mini flask of holding” a gift from James, into it. They all trooped out the door, two bright happy faces, one resolute fake grin and one out right grimace. 

Thor made sure to stay between Riley and Loki as much as possible, allowing Jane to sit up front when they reached Riley's car. It was a tight fit in the back seat for the brothers, Thor simply took up too much space for most cars that were smaller than a Humvee, but the ride to the mall was short enough that no fights erupted. The only squabble was when Loki reached up to change Riley's music. That was a cardinal offense in her book and she slapped his hand way without realizing who she was slapping. She tried to cover, acting like the now icy glare pointed in her direction didn't intimidate her, but Thor must've noticed because he shouldered his brother further against the door with a warning growl.

The mall itself was another adventure all together. The brothers garnered more than a few stares, their outlandish clothes and frankly distracting good looks causing men and women alike to simply stop in place. More than one pile up of shoppers followed in their wake and Riley felt her resolve to fake her happiness slipping as mall security started to follow them. She stopped at the first mens clothing store she found, Hollister of all places, and shoved them inside. She handed Jane her card and commanded the men to find something less conspicuous to wear while she found the nearest exit. She left without another word, needing to be away from the press of people and the presence of one God of Mischief that was trying to glare a hole through her skull. Her emotions were too raw to handle this, just as she'd known they would be, and she needed to find some solitude quick, before she burst into tears in the middle of the crowded shopping center.

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It was with great relief that Loki watched Riley all but stumble away. She'd been a constant presence in his mind since he'd left her. It was like she was a spot on his skin that he couldn't scrub clean, taunting him with her presence but doing nothing about it either way. She would neither advance or retreat, simply being, existing near him. He couldn't tell how much of it was from his own guilt over his treatment of her, something he was still trying to ignore as it made no sense to him, or simply her presence that grated on his nerves so, but her absence was a welcome respite. He was instead faced with another challenge. 

She had made a good point when she said they stood out, it was hard to blend in with an indigenous population that insisted on covering itself in such bland and irritating fabrics and his armor was, perhaps, a bit formal for the kind of life he was likely to be living for the foreseeable future. So, with great reluctance, he allowed Thor's woman to lead them through the heavily perfumed store, the scent sticking in his throat to the point of being able to taste it. He looked around for the source of the offensive odor and saw, at once, the cause. A young man was spraying it from a small glass bottle, assaulting anyone within reach and preaching its value. It was with no small amount of amusement that Loki sent a shiver of frigid air straight to the stand, causing all the bottle to shatter, showering the obnoxious youth with the fragrance. 

Jane looked back at the sound, her gaze moving from the apparent accident to his less than innocent face. He watched her mouth twitch up at the corner, clearly fighting a smile and he gave her his best grin.

“Brother. Enough.” Thor's hand closed over his forearm as if he'd just brandished a weapon and he found his small amount of mirth snuffed out by instant and violent rage.

“The man child was an irritation. I have not injured him, merely given him a taste of what it is like to be assaulted with a scent you do not enjoy. Surely there is no harm in that.” He jerked his arm from Thor's grasp, moving on down the aisle. 

The next half hour or so passed in a monotony of clothing, rough trousers made of a fabric called Denim that was not entirely to his liking. He put forth the argument that he could simply shift his appearance to mimic the people of the city, but Jane would have none of it. Thor, for his part, seemed to be enjoying the process. He had been through it all before, as Loki remembered, and was inured to the scratchy nature of the “jeans” that everyone seemed to enamored with. Eventually he was worn down, accepting the clothing foisted on him simply to stop the small human from berating him any further. She gave each of them several of what she called “outfits” cobbled together from the various racks of shirts and trousers, tossing a few packages of underthings onto the growing pile in each man's arms before declaring them to be “done”. 

They took their various purchases to the counter at the front of the store, settling them before a rather shocked looking store attendant before Jane flashed the card and the look of shock became one of delight. The cashier quickly rang them up and had everything detagged and bagged. Jane grimaced at the amount on the small screen attached to the register, whispering a small apology to Riley, wherever she'd run off to, and swiped it, praying the woman's credit limit was high enough to handle all this and the fun she wanted to take her on later. It went through with a little dinging sound and the bags were handed over. Jane checked every bag, making sure no security tags were left and began to load each man down with his bags, missing the look of discomfort that had just crossed Loki's face. He winced again as she began to load bags into his arms, finally gaining her attention when he stumbled backward, nearly knocking over one of the many mannequins around the store.

“Loki, what is it?” Thor was at his side in a second, bags forgotten.

“It is nothing. I must go.” He pushed away from the stunned couple and was gone before either of them could question him further. The pain had not been his own. It was removed from him, though not by much, which could only mean one thing. Riley, wherever she was, was in pain. He had to find her. It took a moment for his mind to calm enough to form a plan. This place was quite large, it would take to long to search it all. The pain was building, even as he moved, building from a dull stinging to a sharp ache. He knew the pain, having become an expert at inflicting it. She'd been stabbed. He closed his eyes, stilling his body and focusing on the link that was between them, feeling it like a rope around his spine. He could transport down it, directly to her. 

He took a breath as the pull of the magic raced him down the tether to where her body was lying. It looked like she'd been sitting at one of the rear entrances, small shadowed areas that were meant more for employees and delivery people than the consumers that wandered around inside. He materialized next to her, becoming visible and solid once more as he knelt beside her small form. She was unconscious, though he could not tel if that was from blood loss or if she had simply been struck. The wound was apparent, nestled in her side, almost covered by the baggy shirt she had put on that morning. It was bleeding quite freely, leaving small red trails against the pale skin that could be seen from the hole the blade had rent in the shirt. Her breathing was shallow and sporadic, her body had gone into shock.

He knew if he didn't act quickly, she would be lost to him so he reached forward, not thinking to check if anyone else might be around and pressed his hand to her side. He felt the chill in his blood begin to spread, covering her wound, effectively sealing it. There would still be damage inside, something he could not fix at the moment, but she would not bleed out. But as he watched, about to withdraw his hand, her skin began to bleed out in color. It began to turn, slowly, around the wound from its normal pale peachy pink to a chilly blue that he knew all too well. 

He jerked his hand back as if stung, refusing to believe what his eyes showing him. She could not be. It was impossible. He fell back, the force of his disbelief carrying him further from her still form as his mind raced to make sense of this new variable. He knew much of soul bonds, having researched them at length during his many wakeful nights as a child, but nothing he'd ever read or seen could explain why she was slowly taking on the visage of a Jotunn. He settled a few feet from her, watching what he could of the color as it tracked down her arms and legs and over her face. He watched as it slowly eclipsed every last pale inch of her, the runes standing out against the blue that seemed a shade or two lighter than his own. It was at this moment that his brother and his bothersome female found them.

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Riley had been sitting outside for what felt like forever, waiting for Jane to give her a call and let her know the boys were presentable. She guessed that one of the brothers, who shall remain nameless, was giving her a hard time. She sighed, flicking open her Zippo and lighting another cigarette, leaning against the stone barrier that circled all around the building and served as a planter of sorts for the little shrubs and trees around all the entrances to the mall. It wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, but it was close to the ashtray and out of the way of the foot traffic. She was nothing, if not a polite smoker. She was just getting ready to go in, tired of waiting for the phone call that might be another hour coming when the kid came at her.

If he was more than sixteen she'd kiss someone's ass, but that didn't seem to stop him from knowing how to handle a knife. It had all happened so quickly. He'd run up and demanded her valuables, taking a swipe at her to show he was serious and catching her on the arm. It had stung, but the blade was fairly dull on the edge so it hadn't gone too deep. She had been ready to just give the kid her cash and let him go, but not now. She let her purse drop, knowing he'd go for it the moment it hit air, and sure enough, he was on it like a vice. But she was on him just as hard. She waited until he was close enough and then buried her knee in his stomach, forcing him to curl in on himself. But he wasn't as much of a push over as he looked. She got a couple more hits in while he recovered but once he didn't run after the first hit, she knew she was in trouble. She had pegged him for a scared kid, looking for some quick cash for whatever, but she couldn't have been more wrong.

They danced around each other, one trying to end it before anyone saw them, the other trying to drag it out as long as possible. It was this distraction that proved her mistake. She'd been so consumed in waiting for someone to come to the small entrance that she looked away, for a split second, because she heard a stone fall. This was all the mugger needed. Before she could turn back, he'd rushed her, burying the knife into her side. The point, it would seem, was much sharper than the edge and she felt it as it slid through her, tearing muscles and vein as it went. He pulled the knife free, looking shocked for a moment that he'd actually done it but then she'd caught his eye, something she'd learned never to do. His face twisted into an angry grimace and he pulled a fist back, punching her in the side, the force reverberating through her with a kind of pain she'd never known before. She let out a hoarse half scream and crumpled. He ran off, leaving her purse beside her.

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“Loki, what is the meaning of this?” Thor stood above his brother while Jane worried over Riley. She'd already put in the 911 call and was just waiting for the ambulance to reach them, checking and rechecking Riley's pulse and condition.

“Why is she blue?” Jane turned, looking from one man to the other. Blue was a bad color for humans, it meant death and sadness and Jane wasn't sure she could take another loss so soon after James. She was getting really tired of the friends she made ending up dead or possessed. 

“I do not know. Only those of Jotunnheim react in such a way to extreme cold.” Loki sounded just as shocked as his interrogators, though both thought it was some kind of act.

“And the ice?” Jane pointed to the ice still covering the wound.

“I placed it there to stem the flow of blood.” He didn't have the energy to lie.

“How did you know she was out here? How did you know where to go? What aren't you telling us?” Jane's voice rose with each question, becoming more and more shrill as she realized she knew absolutely nothing about the current situation.

“I did not know, I guessed and I can assure you, I am keeping no secrets.” Alright, maybe he did. He felt a small glimmer of amusement at the look of pure aggravation on Jane's face. Served the little upstart right, delving into things that were not her concern. She opened her mouth to continue her questioning when the ambulance arrived. Loki passed between the other two, all but ripping the ice from her side, causing it to resume its slow trickling bleeding. Her skin began to fade, returning to the paleness he'd grown accustomed to and was once again normal when the EMTs finally made it through the press of people that had collected outside as news of the woman spread through the mall. They shooed everyone away, gods and scientist included, and set about trying to get Riley stable enough for transport.

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Loki was not one prone to fidgeting. He preferred to spend his time with his thoughts, not pacing around and bouncing his legs about like a child. But that did not mean his companions were more than willing to indulge in the behavior for him. Jane's leg had been going for the better part of ten minutes, he'd been counting, and he was surprised that Thor's heavy foot falls hadn't worn a hole into the next floor down by now. It was enough to drive any man insane, add uncomfortable new clothes into the mix and things tend to not end well. He reached back to adjust the “pony tail” Jane had shoved his hair into. It tugged every time he moved his head and was beginning to give him a head ache. 

It had been the better part of two hours since thy had been shown into the waiting room, the nurse had told them to wait here and they would hear about Riley soon enough. She was being prepped for surgery, whatever that meant, and they were not allowed in the operating room as it was a sterile environment that they would contaminate. The terms had since been explained to both brothers by a very shaken up Jane and Loki found himself disgusted by the practice. It was barbaric to cut into a person and sew them together. Surely their hearers were more skilled than to have to resort to such primitive methods of treatment. Jane explained about the advances in medical science, how the stitches used were organic and would simply dissolve as the wound closed and that the techniques used by the surgeries were quite advanced, but neither Asgardian seemed comforted by the fact.

“It is barbaric, no matter how specialized the barbarity.” Loki muttered this under his breath, directing the voice to his brother who had been on the receiving end of this “medical science” at one point and saw a nod in return. He felt his heart lurch uncomfortably at the thought of Riley, the fiery witch he had come to know, lying helpless on a steel table, her body opened to the world as numerous physicians tried to mend what had been torn. It hurt, to think of her unable to move. What if she wasn't truly unconscious and was in great pain? They would have no way of knowing, truly knowing, if she was unaware of the procedure. But he could. He could know, definitively. He allowed a small smile to creep across his face as he settled further into his seat. He closed his eyes, reaching once more across the tether, making contact with her mind, brushing against it softly. She didn't respond, even on a subconscious level. So she was truly “under” as the saying went. That was a mercy at least.

He caught himself in that thought and was shocked to see that it was not, as he had intended, in any way sarcastic. He truly cared for her. It was truly startling to discover, a feeling he hadn't even realized he was fostering now blooming against the surface of his mind. If she didn't make it out of this alive, he would care, not simply because he would have to train for decades to get back what her death would cost him, but because she herself would no longer be in the world. It was something he'd always sworn against, something he never wanted to experience. It was completely foreign and entirely uncomfortable, but he savored it none the less. It was something that he always thought beyond his grasp, the feeling of caring for another person more than yourself, but here he was, caring not about his loss of power, but at her potential danger.

His thoughts must've shown on his face because Thor was beside him in a second, angry and ready to resume some previous argument no doubt. He had just opened his mouth to begin when the door to the operating area swung open, a thin, balding man in his middle years shuffling tiredly out of it. He pulled the mask away from his face, tossing his bloodied gloves into a bio-hazard trashcan nearby as he approached them. 

“She made it through the surgery but that knife clipped her heart. The tear wasn't too bad and we managed to close it, but it'll take time for it to heal. She's resting, the anesthesia should be wearing off soon. I can't let all three of you back there, policy says only one visitor at a time in post op, but if one of you wants to go back and let her know you're here, she should be up soon.” He let a tired smile grace his face as Jane stepped forward but Loki was the one to speak up.

“I will see her.” His voice was final, allowing no room for anyone to argue as the doctor nodded and led him back through the doors. The smell of the hallways was sickeningly sterile. It smelled chemical and false compared to the smoky mixture of aromas he had grown used to in Riley's home. The hallway itself was also too clean, the wallpaper muted and meant to encourage well being no doubt. It bled seamlessly into a bland tile floor, not quite beige and not quite white, but a muddy shade in between that served only to reflect the light of the fluorescent set into the stippled drop tile ceiling above him. It was an uncomfortable place to be, nothing with any substance or feeling around to draw the mind from the pain these patients were no doubt feeling.

These were the thoughts in his mind as he was led into a darkened room, the curtains pulled around the only bed. His heart almost stopped as he saw what was in the bed. It was Riley, but at the same time it was someone so wholly unknown to him. She was in some kind of medically induced sleep, the anesthesia the doctor had mentioned, and the lights flushed what little color was in her face completely out. She looked half dead, lying there helpless. But the true shock came from the number of tubes and needles coming from her. There was on in her arm, a small tube resting against her upper lip with two small prongs going into her nostrils, another needle in the crook of her elbow and a series of wires coming from the neck of the loosely fitting hospital gown she wore. It was as if they had turned her into some kind of automaton, powered by hoses and wires.

“You alright son? Look like you've seen a ghost.” The doctor patted him gently on the arm, guessing that this man was the patient's boyfriend or husband.

“When will she wake?” His voice sounded too quiet for his liking, the shock apparent.

“Shouldn't be long now. I expect she'll but up in the next few minutes. Now, she'll be groggy, she'd had a hell of a shock, so give her some time to get about herself before you start huggin and kissin on her alright?” He laughed again, patting the shoulder one more time before exiting the room. Loki felt the last of his strength leave with him, his body collapsing into the chair nearby the bed as his mind raced. What had they done to her? What were all these tubes and needles for? They had healed her, the physician had said as much, so why were all these measures necessary? He felt a sick little feeling in his heart that she wasn't fully healed yet. Perhaps they couldn't mend flesh the way the healers of Asgard could, but instead could merely mend it so that it can heal itself, with time. That must be what the man had meant about being weak and needing rest. He shook his head and barbarism of it all, rising to leave when a sound from the bed caught his full attention. He leaned forward, about to take her hand when he caught himself.

What was he doing? She wasn't his woman. She was some irritating little mortal who had berated him for every habit he had, slapped him on more than one occasion and thrown a bottle at his head. She was the disrespectful little chit who dared invade his very being and forge a tie between them so that, even now, he was looking on all her failings with a favorable light. Yes, she had berated him, but it showed that she had the spirit of an Asgardian woman, capable of going toe to toe with his impressive wit. She'd been unafraid to put him in his place when he was out of line, something to be admired in a woman and her aim was impeccable. Had he been visible she would no doubt have hit him. He found himself smiling at the audacity of it. She was truly a fiery spirit.

He shook his head, clearing it as the aforementioned woman began to come around. He tried to ignore the warmth in his heart and the relief at seeing the hazel orbs of the woman who consumed his thoughts. He told himself he was merely happy to see her alive because of the cost it would mean if she were not. 

“Loki?” Her voice sounded sleepy, all together too helpless for his comfort.

“Yes Riley. Are you aware of your current situation?” He leaned forward despite himself, claiming manners as his reason. No reason to be shouting in a hospital if one could whisper.

“Got stabbed...and punched...rat bastard...” She moved her hands lazily through the air as she spoke, looking like a puppet with an exceptionally bad puppeteer. One particularly wild flung gesture tugged sharply on the needle in her wrist and she whimpered, pulling it back to her side. “Damn IV....damn hospital....side hurts.” She let out a huffed breath and Loki felt hard pressed not to laugh. She was simply too...cute. He searched for another word, a more proper word, to describe her behavior, but none would come. 

“Yes, I'm sure it does. Do you remember who attacked you? Were they mortal?” He placed a hand over hers, holding it gently in place so she wouldn't damage it further.

“Nope...yup...in that order...”He almost lost control as she attempted to move her arm, tapping her elbow in time with the words. Her head swiveled on the pillow, looking down at their joined hands and let out a soft giggle, tapping her finger against his palm. “Holding my hand...” Her tone was melodic, much in the fashion of a teasing limerick and he felt a smile cross his face.

“So I am. Rest now Riley. Thor and Jane will be here shortly to look after you.” He caressed the back of her hand with his thumb, tracing a small pattern into the skin, following the runes that had been visible during her transformation. She smiled, still laughing softly, drifting back into a deep healing sleep.

Her nurse and the attending physician came in soon after and began preparing her for transfer. She was going to be kept in the ICU, Intensive Care Unit he later learned, until she stabilized. Visitors were allowed, but only during certain hours, unless they had permission to stay overnight. Loki nodded, returning to the waiting room and informing the others of the developments, leaving out any and all sentiment that may have been present. He informed them of the room number and the floor number where Riley would be and then excused himself, his form already beginning to shimmer. Thor knew what came next, though he'd been allowing his brother to remain blissfully unaware of his noticing. Jane, on the other hand, was no so observant.

“Where are you going? And why do you look like that again?” She looked over his armor, helm firmly placed on his head, wickedly sharp daggers in both hands.

“Because my dear, I am going hunting.” And with that as a farewell, he disappeared, leaving one very confused scientist, and one grudgingly proud brother. He did not approve of the murder Loki was about to participate in, he had always preferred to settle his scores with fists and drinks, but to protect the woman he was coming to care for was a noble pursuit Thor never thought he'd see from his younger brother. Perhaps there was hope for him after allli


	9. A Death. A Dream. A Danger.

Loki's body materialized silently into the small alley behind the hovel where his prey resided. He felt a grim smile stretch his lips as he watched the shadows play across the crude window coverings, giving him an exact location of the inhabitants within. He had been on the hunt for several hours, tracking various small remnants of energy left at the scene of the attack, and they had all led him to this tiny place. It was a wonder to him that someone could be so ill equipped to defend themselves and yet survive in this world. The boy, for he was not yet a man, did not even have the presence of mind to remove his shoe prints from the side walk. But that was not the extent of his idiocy. He had made a deal with a devil, the very same devil they had been en route to meet when this whole fiasco began. 

Loki hadn't believed it at first, finding the idea to be too ridiculous to even contemplate, but the energy signature that had been left in the boy's shoe print had been unmistakable. It would seem that the would be thief was in fact a would be assassin. Hired, it turned out, by one of Malekith's brood. The boy must have been paid well for his failure, if the music and raucous shouting coming from the apartment were anything to go off of. Loki would have preferred a silent meeting, perhaps in an alley like the one where he currently stood, but a grand show of force would do just as well.

With this thought in his mind, he faded from the tiny side street, appearing just before the young man's door, taking a deep breath as he gathered his energy into himself. It would not do to forgo a spectacular entrance, even if all who witnessed it would shortly be either unconscious or dead. He reminded himself that he was playing the side of good at the moment, but corpses tended to pile up quickly in a large group fight. He tried to feel bad about that, in deference to his brother and young Riley, but he found that he couldn't. He was, after all, a very bad person at heart, and bad people did bad things.

He unleashed a whip of frigid air at the fragile door, blowing it into splinters as he stepped through. It must have been truly impressive for every single eye turned and stared. He let his most viscious grin spread across his face as he raised his hands, daggers pointed skyward. The silence stretched for a moment, the reality of the situation trickling slowly through the haze of alcohol in the young people's minds. Then the screaming started. It was the shrill, unrelenting sound of a young woman, something he'd always hated. He located the source of the sound and silenced her with a simple shove. Her small form fell back, her mouth shut and her body shaking as she curled in on herself.

“There now, that's better. Before we begin I would ask that no one do anything rash. I am not here to hurt you, well, not all of you at any rate. I am looking for the young man that owns this.” He held the small knife in his fingers, letting all the people in the room see it. He watched as eyes moved toward a relatively small man in the corner, people moving slowly away from him. He didn't seem to notice, engrossed as he was with blending into the wall paper, but his gaggle of followers, enticed no doubt by the money and “refreshments” he had provided, were turning on him. “Ah, thank you.” 

He dropped the knife to the ground, moving across the floor with the super human speed he'd learned to use so well against the weak willed. It was showy, something that was good for shock value only. In a true battle, it would be foolish to use, but against weak little mortals like this man who have no spine and hide behind a naturally young face, it was quite effective. There was the sound of gasping around him as air rushed in his wake and in the next moment, the rattle of the knife still ringing in the air, the young man as hoisted off his feet and pinned to the wall he had been so absorbed with melting into.

“Please man, don't hurt me. I'm sorry!” His eyes were squeezed shut, as if this would defend him against the bloody death that was standing before him. It turned Loki's stomach to watch him.

“Silence, boy. Did you use that knife on a young woman outside the shopping center. I will know if you lie.” He tightened his grip, cutting off the boy's airflow just slightly.

“Yes! Jesus I'm sorry! I had to!” He had begun to thrash, feeling the imminent strangulation.

“Had to?” Loki prompted, giving his grip a little slack. The boy seemed to take this as a sign of safety as his body began to relax, his head turning back to face the now outwardly calm god.

“Yeah, yeah, this weird guy in some kind of raver suit came up to me and handed me a note. It said that I was supposed to go to the mall and attack the girl that was sitting outside. He had a gun, and when I tried to run away, three more of em jumped me. So I went and I cut her, but she attacked me. She was supposed to just back down and gimme her bag, not come at me like some kinda MMA chick. So I stuck her.” He tried to smile innocently, thinking perhaps that Loki would be impressed with his quick thinking. But he was met instead with a look of pure, icy vengeance as on of Loki's daggers sunk through his neck and into the wall behind him.

Loki pulled his dagger back with a jerk, immediately regretting giving the boy such a quick death, he deserved something much more painful, but it would not due to fall back into bad habits when his enemy seemed to be gaining strength. He let the body fall, turning as it fell with a dull thud, watching as the people in the room backed into the walls. He felt the familiar thrill of instilling fear rush through him. He could command them all to jump from the highest tower they could find, and they would do it, simply to be spared his wrath. It felt good. It also gave him an idea.

“One more favor and I will leave you in peace. I want you all to find this “weird man” that our departed friend spoke of. I will return to the alley behind this hovel every two days. Leave any information you find there for me. Oh, and should they ask you to harm, in any manner, a woman by the name of Riley...” he allowed his gaze to drift to the fallen boy's corpse, now slowly being overtaken by a pool of blood, “well, I wouldn't.” He allowed one last lazy grin to grace his lips before he vanished from the center of the room.

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Riley was tired of feeling tired. She knew that her only other option was to be in intense pain from now until her wound closed, but damn that morphine had a kick. She'd been drifting in and out of consciousness for the better part of a day, remembering glimpses of the visits she knew she'd had with Jane and Thor. But she would also catch snippets of whatever it was Loki was up to, usually in her dreams. She would feel like she was flying, the skyline of the city always flashing below her. She remembered a pair of impossibly green eyes, staring into a pool of recently fallen rain, a small footprint glowing faintly under the light of magic. But this last one had been a real doozey. It had been so vivid, full of screaming and blood and anger, so white hot and burning that she thought she might drown in it. It was so strange, so unlike the Loki she knew that she was beginning to think that it was just her own mind playing with her. But then she remembered that first visit. It was so fuzzy, like something out of an old film, all muffled voices and hazy pictures, but one thing stood out to her, clear as a bell. It was a small smile on his face, so like the one she had shared her soul with in her dream world, soft and sincere, all trace of scorn and anger wiped away as he gazed down at her.

It was so unlike how she knew him to be, but it had happened. Jane and Thor had both verified that Loki had been the first in to see her. Perhaps he was changing. Thor had confessed to thinking the same, after seeing how tenderly he cared for her outside the mall. But is that where this white hot anger had come from? Is that the new evil side of him? She shook her head at that thought. Given the choice, she would much rather have the cold and calculating Loki to this new, uncontrolled version. 

She was shaken from her thoughts by the sound of her door opening. It was late, past visiting hours. She felt her heart begin to speed up, her hand inching to the IV needles sunk into her arm. It would hurt like a bitch, but she was ready to rip them out and run if she had to. A shadow moved in the relative dark of the room outside her curtain. She tried to make herself still, breathing through her nose to muffle the sound and tensing her muscles. If it was someone who meant her harm, she wanted a fighting chance at getting away, which meant rabbiting the moment she could. She knew that her chances were horrid at best, but she wouldn't go down without a fight. 

She heard the footsteps stop just outside her curtain. The silhouette turned sideways, showing long ropey braids and an angular face. Shit. She bit down on her sleeve as she ripped the needles from her arm, wincing at the ripping sound the tape made in the stillness around her. The head whipped back around, the figure stilling like a cat, ready to pounce. Riley pushed the oxygen away from her nose, laying the hose down on the bed softly, dropping one leg off the side of the bed and waiting. They stayed that way for a moment, silhouette watching silhouette before the dark elf moved, pulling the curtain away from the railing. Riley moved at exactly the same moment, launching herself weakly from the bed, barely keeping her feet as she began to hobble across the room. 

Another shadow appeared out of the darkness, blocking her path, pushing her back against the wall. She screamed, pushing a fist against the thing's face, making a dash for the door, only to be blocked once again. Three figures now blocked her way, backing her slowly toward the open wall of windows. They were unarmed, from what she could tell, but they wouldn't need weapons to do her in. So she made a choice. She turned, screaming down the link between herself and the god she'd just been dreaming of and breathed, taking a runner's stance as she barreled toward the glass, sailing through it and into the air. 

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Loki was ripped from his musings by the all but physical pull in his mind. Riley was in danger. He caught images, elves in her hospital room, the punch she landed on one of them and the plan she'd come up with to escape. The reckless woman! He materialized beneath her, gathering himself for a leap as she fell, glass sparkling around her. He left the ground with more force than he'd ever felt before and caught her, their bodies falling back toward the earth. He oriented himself to the pavement below and prepared for landing, his armor crushing the cement below him. He looked down at the woman in his arms, intent on making her regret her little stunt, only to find her once again unconscious, her face locked in a grimace of pain.

He felt his blood boil at this thought. His conscious mind beginning to slip under the primal need to protect the to whom he was linked. He looked up, watching as the elves followed him down, landing in a surrounding formation, faces blank, weapons ready. He grinned, gathering a blast from his core, the place every Jotunn has. A place so frigid that, should it be unleashed fully, none could survive it. These pissants would know his wrath.

They began to advance, one after another taking a swipe at Riley, attempting to grab her, or slay her, whichever was easier. They kept their gaze on Loki, but it did them no good. When the blast wave hit them, it was like righteous anger given form. It was a force so cold it burned as it invaded them, freezing every piece of skin it could reach and burrowing shards of ice into them until they simply fell apart.

Loki released a breath, readjusting his grip on the woman's body before walking calmly through the nearest door. He stopped an orderly, informing him that the woman in his arms had been attacked and thrown from her room's window. The man paled, stumbling to a phone on the wall and calling for hospital security and the ICU physician on call. Before long, Riley was bundled onto a gurney and wheeled to an examination room where she was checked over for any new injuries. Other than a few cuts and bruises, she was declared out of the woods and moved to an observation unit where Loki was “allowed” to stay. The truth was that no one had the courage to move him once he'd settled in the overstuffed chair in the room. Between the armor, still bearing the blood of his first victim, and the look of cold fury on his face, no one would even approach him to make sure he was comfortable. 

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

The phone in the apartment started ringing, breaking the sleepy silence that Jane and Thor had fallen into. Jane groaned, gathering the sheet around her from the floor and shuffling over to the wall where the land line was mounted. She answered with an irritated “What?” before her face paled, the irritation being replaced with concern and anger as whoever was on the other end of the line spoke. Thor was at her side like a shot, his gaze following hers as emotions played across her face. It wasn't until the line was hung up that her face fell into something resembling heart break.

“What is it? What is wrong?” Thor held her close as she shook.

“Riley was attacked in the hospital. She dove out a window. Loki just barely caught her in time. It was Malekith's soldiers.” Jane looked up at the god she loved, feeling the guilt crush over her. All of this was her fault. If she'd just left well enough alone, the Aether would've remained hidden and no one would have been hurt. But she just had to keep digging into things didn't she? She just couldn't leave well enough alone.

“Jane. Whatever you are thinking, stop. We must get dressed. I do not trust my brother alone with Riley while she in such a fragile condition.” He kissed the top of her head, holding her close for a moment more before moving around the room and collecting their clothes from where they had fallen, or been tossed. Jane just nodded dumbly, grabbing her clothes from the pile he'd gathered and grabbing the keys to Riley's car as well as her own purse. 

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

It didn't take Riley long to come around. Loki had been in her mind while she was unconscious, getting the full account of what had happened from her memories. She was dimly aware of his approval, radiating between their link like the first beams of sunshine in the morning. She tried to push away what she'd seen, knowing it would tarnish this moment, but he was too skilled and, after a moment of digging, the memories of her dreams flashed before his mind's eye. It was that moment that woke her. She had been expecting anger or simple derision, but instead she felt a faint kind of sadness followed by cold detachment. 

She blinked slowly as her mind came to full wakefulness. It was a strange sensation to be coming out of a shock induced sleep, like your body is being woken up from outside yourself. It's like your brain is the last thing to come back from the blackness that is all you know when you sleep. If anyone asked, she would blame that feeling for everything she did next, including the little giggle that alerted the God of Mischief to her now conscious state.

“And what is it that you find to humorous?” His voice was clipped and angry. Guess he didn't like being used as a discount Clark Kent.

“Just that you are the first literal knight in shining armor I've ever met.” She held her side as she continued laughing. It hurt like hell but, on an emotional level, it felt good to laugh.

“Ah, more trite mortal humor. Honestly, you would laugh at anything.” He tried to continue sounding like the whole situation were beneath him, but something about her laugh, unadulterated as it was, warmed him inside and made him want to join her.

“Yeah well, I'm drugged, so bite me.” She stuck her tongue out at him as her eyes drifted closed.

“It didn't seem to stop you from diving out a window. Honestly, what were you thinking? What if I had decided not to catch you? Or hadn't heard you?” He looked at her, watching her face as it cycled through expressions. He was expecting it to settle on anger or fear or realization that perhaps she had put her trust in the wrong person, but the quiet confidence was a pleasant surprise.

“I knew you would catch me. As to if you hadn't heard me, well, then I guess I would be dead. But better dead by my hand than theirs, or worse, taken prisoner.” She said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world and Loki felt his heart warm slightly at the tone she used. It was like choosing to save her would be the only logical choice.

“Yes well, I suppose you have me there. You hold a fair amount of my power and it would be a bother to lose you before I retrieve it.” His voice sounded almost condescending, but there was an underlying playfulness that made Riley smile.

“I'll be sure to keep that in mind the next time I jump out a window.” She opened her eyes slowly, the lids clearly heavy and anxious for more sleep. Her gaze met his, eerily clear despite her drugged state. “You don't fool me Lie Smith. I know I'm more to you than just a nuisance.” She grinned sleepily, watching the carefully schooled expression crack slightly, revealing genuine shock.

“And how is that little witch?” He leaned closer, his helm shadowing his eyes and giving him an almost palpable menace.

“Are you so unaware of yourself that I have to tell you?” She tilted her head to the side, feigning shock.

“I am merely interested in seeing how deeply your delusions run.” He sat back, answering her smile with a grin.

“Ah, well, in that case, I think I'll wait, let you come to it on your own.” Her smile went crooked, mimicking his grin with a smirk as her eyes finally closed. She settled back into the pillows, gasping softly as the motion jostled her wounds. Loki moved forward, without thinking, helping her to get settled before returning to his seat. Neither one mentioned it, simply letting it hang in the air between them, the link pulsing a little more strongly than before as Riley slipped into sleep once more.

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Jane and Thor arrived at the hospital just after sun up. It had been an ordeal trying to find the place. Jane wasn't used to big cities and kept getting turned around on the side streets the GPS kept pointing her down. It wasn't until she threw the cursed piece of machinery into the back seat and called 411 that she got reliable directions to the visitor's parking lot.

They stopped in the cafeteria, grabbing coffee and breakfast food, unsure who exactly would be in the room when they got there. It was with no small amount of shock that they found both Loki and Riley sound asleep, one carefully cushioned with what looked like spare pillows from her home and the other resting comfortably on a chair that looked much too big to be in the room.

Thor held back a smile as he set the small plates of food down on the small counter that held the room's sink. Jane, for her part, was too shocked to form an opinion on much of anything. Here she was expecting to find Loki holding her new friend hostage, keeping her from getting her rest with interrogations and antagonizing comments, only to find that he'd not only let her rest, but made it easier for her to do so. It was something she would expect a friend to do.

“Hello brother.” Loki's voice broke into her thoughts, bringing her back to ground level. She watched as he stretched languidly, looking almost like a snake, or a cat. She found herself checking him out for a moment, the loose sleep wear he'd decided on fitting him in all the right places. She preferred Thor's muscles to Loki's lithe build, but there was no denying the man was gorgeous. She swallowed slowly, her gaze moving instead to focus on the smaller figure in the bed. She looked a little worse for wear, a few cuts on her face and one just barely visible along her chest. She also had bruises around her arms, oddly shaped and thin.

“Loki. Thank you for informing us as to Riley's change in condition.” Thor gave him a plate of fruit and small glazed dough balls. He had been told their name, but it escaped him at the moment. He knew it would suit Loki's palette better than the protein heavy meals he preferred. He passed over a small cup of coffee, something he'd been trying to introduce into his brother's diet for the better part of two weeks now. The younger god simply sighed and took the cup, the liquid within changing to a dark tea.

“I thought it best to keep you informed. Malekith is growing in strength, faster than we anticipated. The attack on Riley is proof of that.” He wished he could take the comment back the moment it left his mouth. Jane ignored it, caring too much for the well being of her friend to care what the god was saying, but Thor was not nearly so oblivious. They exchanged a silent conversation of looks, Thor demanding an explanation and Loki resigning to tell him when they were alone. It happened within seconds, something that had been absent from their relationship for a long time. Both brothers felt a small warmth grow in their hearts at the thought that it was still possible. Outwardly, however, they were just as cold as ever. 

“So, what exactly happened? You said she jumped out a window? Why would she do that?” Jane's voice was trending upward again, the shrill quality dancing across Loki's nerves.

“I can only assume that the elvish soldiers attacked her in her room and blocked her only exit. I was in the area, tracking the elves when I saw her dive through the glass. She is lucky I was there to catch her.” Loki tried to put on the arrogant persona she expected from him, grinning as she flashed him a disgusted look.

“You couldn't have done it a little more gently? She's black and blue all over thanks to you.” Jane stood, her voice hard.

“She is alive thanks to me. Perhaps if one of you had been there, as you said you would be..” He let his sentence drop, directing his look at Thor, conveying his anger at his older sibling.

“Well what about you? Are you exempt from watching over her? Is it beneath you to make sure that the woman who has taken you in and fed you is looked after?” Jane was lashing out in guilt, Loki knew it, but the comment still stung. He had done far more than either of the others to keep her safe. 

“Careful, mortal. You do not know the danger you are in.” His voice was soft and cold as he spoke, his eyes promising all manner of horrific death if she didn't watch herself. Thor's form came in between them, his gaze hard and cold.

“Enough brother. Mistakes were made on all sides. Placing blame does not undo the past nor does it solve our problem.” He backed up slightly, “accidentally” knocking Jane back into her chair. Loki followed suit, sinking into the now ordinary chair, his clothing fading into the mortal outfit he'd worn the day before. Everyone ate in silence for a while, each lost to their own thoughts. Only the beeping of the monitors behind them broke the silence. 

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Riley was dreaming again. It wasn't like the snippets she'd been getting recently. It was the dream beach again. Loki was there, the Loki she'd come to know. He was grinning at her, his hands behind his back as he stood, hair blown back by the wind, armor gone. In its place was a long green tunic and black leggings. She smiled as she took in the sight of him, running toward him, only to leap into his arms. She heard his low chuckle, his arms wrapping around her middle.

“You must be careful, you are not yet fully well Little Witch.” He grinned, his hand hovering over her side. She looked down at herself for the first time and saw that she was in a simply white sun dress. The skirt was a little fuller than she was used to, but that wasn't what caught her attention. There was a bloody wound on her side, right where her body had been stabbed. It looked gruesome next to the snowy white of the cotton dress and she found herself wanting to scrub it clean.

“What is it?” She looked up at him, panic rising up in her as she realized that something was wrong.

“Do not panic Riley. It is merely a wound. It will heal.” He passed a hand over the red stain, clearing it from the dress.

“But, I thought physical stuff didn't matter here?” She stepped back, looking into his eyes, her disquiet simmering just below the surface.

“They do not. But you were not simply physically wounded. The knife, it cut more than just your flesh. Outwardly it was a simply pocket knife, something I'm sure you own yourself. But Malekith has many weapons. He could not allow your full power to continue, so he crippled it. This is the representation of that.” His voice was calm as he spoke, pulling her back from the rising tide of panic.

“How do we fix it?” She tried not to focus on the gnawing feeling in her gut, she could feel the loss, now that he'd explained it. She felt like something had been carved out of her, the edges of the wound jagged and sharp.

“You must close it, as your physical wound was closed. But you cannot do it alone. The one who shares your power must help you.” He gave her a knowing grin, watching her face pull up into an irritated grimace. 

“You mean you don't you?” She shook her head, pausing for a moment. “Wow, that was a confusing sentence. You mean the other Loki right? The one you came from?” She looked up into his face, watching the smile grow.

“Very good. You learn quickly Riley. And yes, I mean the man you took me from. I am not him, per say. The power he holds is not wholly his. He has accumulated strength over a very long time, taking bits and pieces from his various instructors. I am what remains of his mother's magic.” 

“Oh, yeah, that explains a lot. So you mean, you were originally part of Frigga, and when Loki was learning from her, you shifted?” She watched as he nodded slowly, sitting down in the sand with a grunt. “This is confusing.” She rested her head on her hands as her mind spun.

“Try not to think of me as belonging to any one person. I am the power than has been passed from parent to child for ages. I take the shape that is required of me to aid the being that I serve. For now, that is you. But I am also a shadow of the beings I have served in the past. I am Loki, and yet, I am not.” He moved behind her, pulling her back against him. “I am sorry I cannot be more for you. But know that, as there is a part of Loki within me, there is a part of me within him as well. He is not beyond hope Little Witch.” He smiled as she turned, nestling into his embrace.

“Can't you two switch places. I wouldn't mind having his trapped in my brain if it meant I got to hang out with you.” She laughed softly as she felt his arms close around her.

“That is not the way it is done Riley. You are the key to his redemption, but you must take him as he is, not as you wish him to be.” He ran his hand up her back slowly, watching as her body began to relax. “I will show you a glimpse of his past, perhaps then you will understand.” His hand came to rest on the back of her head. 

Riley looked up at him, intent on arguing, but all she saw were two impossibly green eyes and then she was falling down a dark tunnel. She stopped, suspended in air above a room where boys were training. All but one that is. A small raven haired boy sat to the side, rubbing his hands together intently. She watched as he rubbed faster and faster, smoke slowly beginning to curl before his hands were forced apart by a bright orange flame. He let out a laugh of success and called to an aging man standing beside a blonde haired boy. He ran up, carefully guarding the flame in his hands. He called to the man again, waving his free hand. But the man barely acknowledged him, turning just as the blonde extinguished the flame. A look of disappointment crossed the man's face as he turned his back on the raven haired boy. 

The scene shifted, racing away from the training room to a small tavern. Thor was there, younger, though not by much, and Loki was there as well. Thor was loudly proclaiming his prowess, both on and off the battle field, while his brother watched the crowd, his eyes glued to a young woman. She was a real beauty, long brunette curls, pale skin, trim waist. She carried herself differently than the other women in the tavern, she was confident and sure of herself and she passed over every man that dared speak to her. She passed close to Loki, and Riley watched as he gathered himself to speak, only to be, once again, overshadowed by his brother, who reached down and scooped up the young woman, placing her on the table beside him with a laugh. Riley saw the affection glowing in the young woman's eyes as Thor sang her praises, but it was a purely platonic praise.

The scene shifted again and again, showing her times of battle where Thor would be given credit for Loki's work. She saw more romances never given time to start as the blonde god stepped in. She saw how Loki fought and scraped for his father's affection, nearly dying simply to get the man to acknowledge him. It was heart breaking. But something didn't fit. Through all these scenes, Thor was always there, giving his brother a hand, helping him in a mission, singing his praises when all the light was shed on the wrong brother. Why did Loki hate him so? Maybe that's what she needed to figure out.

She felt herself being pulled back out of the vision, her mind slamming back into her body with force enough to rock her in Loki's embrace.

“Okay, no more doing that without warning. Seriously dude, talk about vertigo.” She shook her head, falling back against his chest as her world spun.

“I apologize, it was not my intention to stun you. I believe you have seen what you came to see.” He pushed her forward gently, standing and offering her his hand.

“Aww, I don't have to leave so soon do I?” She took his hand, standing from the warmth of the sand.

“You have been sleeping for over sixteen hours. Your companions are worrying for you. Fear not Little Witch, I will be here, should you need me.” He smiled, leaning down and placing a soft kiss on her lips. Riley closed her eyes, enjoying the soft warmth of the kiss, only opening her eyes again as Loki pulled away. She watched as the scene around her began to fade. She focused on his eyes as they faded. 

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Loki was beginning to lose patience. He could feel a mixture of emotions through their link, but her mind and body remained still. She was rested, he could tell that, but she was refusing to wake. He was mid stride when she made a small noise of frustration. He was at her side in a moment, standing at her bed side with a carefully schooled expression. She groaned, her hand moving to her side as her nerve endings woke up.

“Ow! Damn stitches.” She fished around for the bed controls, jumping softly when a slightly cool hand passed them to her. Her eyes cracked open slowly, the world coming into focus. “Oh, thanks.” She pressed the small up arrow, making the bed whir and move until she was sitting up.

“Riley!” Jane came through the door, snack bag in hand. She dropped her stuff in the chair by the bed and all but tackled her friend.

“Ow!” Jane pulled back quickly, grinning sheepishly. “Hi Jane. Please try not to rip my stitches.” Riley grinned, lifting her less sore arm and allowing the smaller scientist to snuggle under it for a hug.

“Good afternoon Riley, it is good to see you conscious again.” Thor carefully removed the bag of snacks and took the chair they had been resting in. Riley smiled, looking between the Jane and Thor. Her eyes wondered slowly over to the odd man out, standing with his back slightly to the group. She smiled up at him, unaware that he could see her.

“Hey guys, do you think I could talk with Loki for a second, alone.” She caught Thor's eye, trying to convey that is was important.

“Of course.” Thor smiled at her, all but hauling the young scientist out of the room.

“Hey, could you sit down for a second, looking up at you is starting to hurt my neck.” She smiled softly, trying to get around his shell. He pulled his chair over, seating himself as if he were in a throne and fixed her with a cool stare.

“Were you, in my head at all? I mean, did you see what I was dreaming or anything?” She tried to sound confident, but ended up sounding more anxious than anything.

“I was privy to your emotions only. Something was keeping me from your mind.” He sounded angry, like it was something she was doing on purpose.

“Well, I have something I need to tell you, but I want you to promise me you won't get mad.” She felt her resolve wavering as she watched the emotions play behind his eyes.

“Riley.”

“Please, I have a lot to say, but I can't if you're just gonna freak out.” She knew cutting him off would just make him angry but she wasn't feeling up to a battle of wills right now.

“Very well, you have my word.” He leaned forward, obviously expecting an immediate explanation.

She took a breath, closing her eyes and remembering how it felt to be held by him, even if it was just a figment of him and launched into her story. It took the better part of an hour to get it all out, starting with when she'd first met figment Loki and going through all he'd shown and taught her up till now. Loki, for his part, stayed quiet and calm, as per his promise, his mind reeling at the information being given to him.

He was amazed that she was trusting him with this information. Did she not know what kind of weapon she was giving him? If he chose, he could rip her mind apart with all that she was telling him. Perhaps she didn't know the tool she was giving him. Perhaps she was unaware that she was drawing him a map to the most vulnerable points in her mind. Either way, he would guard this with every ounce of power he had. He would see to it that no one knew of this weakness.

Riley waited with baited breath as she finished her diatribe. She hadn't meant to be so specific. She hadn't meant to be so detailed about how figment Loki made her feel. But it felt necessary to say. She had tried not to say it, tried to keep her explanation purely informational, but it had forced its way out. She felt the silence like a physical presence around her as she watched his face. Gone was the mask of indifference, replaced by an expression she couldn't quite place. It was like a tired kind of excitement. 

“And this figment, it is where you got this information?” He looked up at her, face open. It was a strange expression on him, after all the time she'd spent looking at his stoic cold expressions.

“Yeah. He's the one that told me how to tap into my power and also gave me the cliff's notes version of your life. Sorry again, by the way, I didn't really have a choice with the whole memories thing.” She felt like a child, floundering in a situation where she was severely out of her depth. She felt like she'd done something wrong by telling him, but at the same time, it felt like the right thing to do. It was all too confusing for her to think on so soon after almost dying...again.

“Riley, you must tell no one else of this. Do you understand? Not Jane, not Thor, no one.” His voice was deadly serious and all she could do was nod as his eyes pierced into hers. “This information is a weapon, in the right hands, that is capable of undoing your mind.” His voice sounded almost pained at the idea of that coming to pass and Riley found herself wanting to reassure him, but something stopped her.

“Roger that, no blabber mouth. Anything else?” She tried to laugh, but it came out sounding kind of pathetic.

“Yes, if any more dark elves come for you, call me before you jump out the window.” He grinned in return, getting up and letting the others back in the room. The questions started almost immediately, Jane more than Thor badgering her for any answer she would give, but Riley wasn't really present in the conversation. All she could think about was the soft smile he'd given her and the warmth that spread through her. Perhaps she could do this after all.


	10. A Domestic Disturbance

Riley had never been so happy to see her small apartment as she was the day she came home from the hospital. It hadn't been a long stay, barely two weeks, but it had felt like an eternity. Jane had been keeping her posted of all the events taking place around the city, all the gravitational anomalies and various “odd” crimes Thor had taken to investigating. 

There had been a sudden rash of murders around the inner city, lots of young people going missing or simply dying in the streets from apparently natural causes. Thor thought it was the Dark Elves, taking prisoners, or building an army. Riley had tried not to scoff at that idea, finding the idea of an ancient celestial being needing street kids to conquer the world when he had the Aether, but she kept it to herself. It was troubling though, the Malekith hadn't made a move yet. The worlds were starting to blend together, strange rubble had begun to pop up at major historical sights around the world. Space debris that had no apparent origin was falling almost daily, and the stars were beginning to look...odd.

Loki had noticed it too, growing more and more protective every day, refusing to leave Riley's bed side for more than a half hour at a time. It had given them time to bond, for lack of a better word, though it was far from easy, striking up a conversation with him. It had felt more like an interrogation most of the time. He would drill her for hours about details she could barely remember from not only her attack, but also both dreams where she'd seen his “other half”, as she'd taken to calling him.

He would grow frustrated with her very quickly, insisting that she was withholding details intentionally and then they would fight. It had been very confusing for her, wondering why he would care so much and why he was getting so angry with her supposed refusal to share. Before this all happened, he didn't seem to care less about what she had to say and now he wanted her entire life story. It was beginning to drive her up the walls. Luckily for Riley and Loki both, she was released a couple days early, apparently her healing was progressing more rapidly than they'd anticipated.

She smiled as she stepped into her apartment, inhaling the familiar scent of incense and cigarette smoke. It was good to be home. But as she walked into the living room, her mind was assaulted with all the memories of what had happened there. She stilled for a moment, feeling the emotions beginning to bubble up, choking off her windpipe and robbing her legs of strength. She sagged backward, into the relatively cool chest of the man who'd been both her savior and her tormentor.

“Are you sure you're well enough to be home?” Jane appeared at her side.

“Yeah, just shock. Sorry.” She directed her last statement back toward Loki, standing away from him as her emotions settled back down into her chest. She walked gingerly over to the couch, moving aside the stacks of papers from both the cushions and the table, dragging an ashtray over to her as she collapsed onto the worn in piece of furniture. It felt good to be back in her rightful place. This cushion, this ashtray, this place, it was where she was right and whole. It was where she was safe, where the world couldn't touch her. This cushion was where she'd done almost everything in her life that had ever mattered. This ashtray had caught so much more than just cigarette butts. It had caught the breath of every major idea she'd ever had. It had caught the tearful sobs as she mourned, and the booming laughter as she celebrated. 

She felt the strength of all this old confidence suffuse her battered spirit and she let the first genuine smile she'd had in days spread slowly across her face as she placed a cigarette to her lips. She began to search around for a lighter, growling softly when one failed to present itself, only to have an elegant hand drop into her field of vision, a small flame resting in the palm. She held the tip in the flame until it glowed a cherry red and took a long pull from it, sighing softly as the familiar buzz of nicotine began in her brain. 

“I will never understand why people do that.” Jane sat down beside her, moving aside another stack of papers.

“Because we care more about enjoyment than we do a long life.” Riley exhaled, directing the smoke away from Jane's slightly scowling features.

“But don't you know what it does to your lungs?” She leaned forward. Riley took another deep pull from the cigarette and sighed, the smoke curling from both her nose and her mouth.

“Jane. I know you care about me. I accept that you are worried about me. But in the past two weeks, I have lost my best friend, been almost killed twice, had fictional characters invade not only my home, but my whole world, and now we're looking at facing down the end of not just one universe, but two. Do you really think now is the right time to ask me to quit smoking?” She tapped ash into the tray without breaking eye contact with the tiny brunette. She knew she probably looked more than a little threatening, if not insane, but she wasn't going to let someone horn in on the one moment of peace she'd had in what felt like forever.

“Fair enough.” To her credit, Jane tried to hid the offense and judgment in her voice, but Riley knew that tone too well and couldn't stop the sardonic smile from spreading across her features. Thor stepped forward, trying to stall Jane's rather childish attempt at storming out, but accomplished very little. He sighed, looking between Loki and Riley for a moment before exiting after her. Their voices could be heard, echoing dimly down the hallway.

“Well, that was...fun.” Riley sighed, looking down at the patterns in the ash. It was something she used to do to help her clear her thoughts. It wasn't working though, not with the other God still in the room.

“Why do you indulge in this habit of yours?” Loki walked across the room, causing the smoke hanging limply in the air to swirl and drift slowly after him.

“I started out of curiosity. I had a friend that smoked and it looked like fun, so I asked for one. Now I do it for two reasons, first and foremost, I enjoy it and because the chemical receptors in my brain have been trained to expect the nicotine. If I don't get it, I don't think right. I get agitated easily, I get headaches, I can't focus on anything, it's just not fun. I know it's bad for me and that I should quit, but I don't want to. Addiction's a bitch like that.” She took another long pull, flicking the ash off the end of the small cylinder, letting the smoke curl out of her mouth in lazy tendrils.

“Is there no other way to get this “nicotine”? A way that would not harm you?” Riley looked up, genuinely surprised at the tone of concern in his voice.

“There are artificial cigarette systems, things that deliver the nicotine in water vapor instead of smoke, but I've tried pretty much all of them and it isn't the same. I stick with um for a while, but end up right back here. There's just no substitute for the real thing. Why all the questions? Since when do you care so much?” She smirked, taking another drag.

“I am no so without emotion that I would glance over you doing harm to yourself. Besides, I have gone through so much effort to keep you alive and well. It would seem odd if I were to stop now.” He matched her smirk, flicking his wrist. The cigarette vanished from between her fingers along with the smoke trail that had been drifting around her head.

Riley sighed, reaching for her pack and lighter, only to find that they too had mysteriously vanished. She felt a familiar pang of mild panic. It was one thing to not have a cigarette when you knew you had more and could get to them, but to be without them entirely...that was truly worrying.

“Alright, very funny, now bring um back.” She looked up at him, trying to hid the emotion on her face. She hated this part of her habit, the mild paranoia that came along with not having a pack or two on hand at all times.

“I will not. You have said yourself you should break the habit and I will not allow you to harm yourself further.” Loki fixed her with a superior glare, his tone final and leaving no room for argument. Or so he thought.

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Thor was the first to top the stairs, his body already tense. A feeling of foreboding had assaulted him the moment he entered Riley's apartment building. Jane was still trying to catch up, huffing her way up the stairs, asking between puffing breaths exactly what it was he was running toward. The sound of shattering glass answered both their questions almost immediately. Thor was by the door in seconds, hammer raised and ready to batter down anything in his way. But it was Jane who was through it first. 

Riley had Loki pinned in a corner, the particular corner seemed to shift from moment to moment as he hopped around the apartment, trying to avoid the projectiles being flung at him. The tiny woman, fresh from the hospital, stood red faced and screaming in the center of the room, a veritable armory of ammunition surrounding her.

“Arrogant prick!” She hefted what looked like a math book and flung it at the already fading form of Loki.

“Irrational mortal!” He called from the opposite corner.

“Give them back!” She flung an ashtray at him. He vanished, only to appear in yet another corner, this time in the small kitchen, the only part of the room left conspicuously free of debris.

“I will not allow you to continue this habit, it is harmful and you are too valuable to me.” His tone was haughty and full of condescension.

“That's not your decision to make! I'm not your girlfriend, I'm not your wife and I'm not your goddamn slave!” Riley teetered on her feet, the look of anger falling from her face.

“Riley, calm yourself. You are not yet fully healed.” Thor barked, loud enough to be heard of the din, moving quickly to her side as she began to fall backward.

“What the hell did you do to her?” Jane fumed, storming over to the god still resting in the corner.

“I merely did what you suggested. I removed the cigarettes from her apartment.” He betrayed no emotion as he spoke, merely fixing the somewhat unstable Riley with a look of derision.

“Whoa. Okay, well, um, good idea, but not really the best way to go about it.” Jane felt awkward, acknowledging that Loki had actually done something right for once, but she'd always believed that you give credit where credit is due.

“Good idea? Seriously? What am I, an invalid? Do I not get to make my own choices anymore?” Riley had finally regained her feet and was staring at Jane as if she'd never met her before.

“Well, you really shouldn't be smoking, and it's hard to quit on your own, so this is kinda good. Right?” Jane's voice grew more and more quiet as she spoke, aware of the danger she was stepping into.

“Oh wow. Ya know what? Fuck this and fuck all of you. You want the apartment, take it. I've got other places I can stay. Places where I can smoke if I fucking want to and won't have to worry about other people deciding what I can and cannot do.” She turned, grabbing her coat, keys and bag and storming through the door.

“Should we go after her?” Jane sounded both worried and relieved, having never been very good with verbal confrontation.

“It would do you no good. She is clearly irrational. Does she not see that we are trying to help her?” Loki sounded genuinely confused as he watched Riley's car speed off down the road.

“I do not think that is how she sees it my brother.” Thor sighed, placing a hand on Loki's shoulder. For the first time in a long time, Loki let it remain there.

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Riley stopped at a gas station across the street from the lab. She knew they would look for her there, knew they would probably drag her back to the apartment whether she wanted to go or not, but at the moment, she was too pissed off to care. All she wanted to do was have a beer and a smoke and be alone for a while.

“They probably all think I was just pissed I couldn't smoke.” She muttered, walking through the swinging door. The place was a little cold, always had been, the man who owned it was from somewhere up north, and was always hot, even in winter. But they had the best cigarette prices in the city. She grabbed a six pack of Yuengling, the only beer she ever drank, and walked up to the counter.

“Ah, it is a long time since I see you. How is your friend?” The man smiled, getting up from his little stool by the window and reaching automatically above him, where the single packs where kept.

“Hey Yanna, go ahead and give me a carton, and I'd really rather not talk about it. Bad stuff is happening around here man. Little piece of advice, cash out, close up and get the hell outta dodge for a while.” She tossed a few candy bars and some chips onto the counter as well, passing him her ID to scan.

“If trouble is coming, I will be here. I have nothing by my store and nowhere to go but back home, and I will be damned if I am going back there again.” He smiled, ringing her through and bagging her stuff before passing it over to her.

“I know how that is. Looking for a new place to be myself at the moment. Anyway, stay safe man, and don't work to hard.” She took the bag, walking toward the door.

“You know I never do, is the American Dream right?” He laughed as he watched her shake her head. It was a joke he made every time she left the store, and it was still funny, at least to him. Riley just humored the man, he was getting on in years and knew he would never get any higher on the social ladder than “that weird russian guy who lives in a gas station”. But he was at peace with his place in the world. She sighed as she crossed the road, all but dead at this time of day. 

“Wish I knew what that was like.” She muttered, shoving open the door to the lab. It was still a wreck, pieces of metal and wire still littered the floor, but the entrance to the small loft area looked to be in one piece, hopefully the room beyond it was as well.

She'd never stayed there, finding the place to be too creepy and old for her tastes, but James had sworn by it. On the really late nights, when the sun was coming up as he was going to bed, the lack of windows really came in handy. It wasn't big, bigger than most attached housing in the area, which usually consisted of two rooms and a bathroom, but smaller than what she was used to.

There was a mattress on the floor, an old tv on a stand, a few books on a rotting old bookshelf and two doors, one that led to a kitchen and one that led to a bathroom. The bathroom was the only part of this place that made it great, or so James had always said. He'd spent all his spare time fixing it up, hoping to get to the other rooms some day. This was what Riley was thinking as she dropped the bags onto the mattress. If it was as spectacular as he said, a bath might be just the thing she needed.

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Jane paced back and forth across the living room, glaring down at her cellphone as her call was sent to voicemail for the tenth time. She knew she should give Riley some space, that she would come to realize the good they'd done in her own time. But Jane was far from patient when it came to people. She liked her people to make sense and follow her lead, and when they didn't, she found it never led to anything good.

“Why isn't she picking up? Do you think she's ok? I mean, she knows Malekith is after her still, doesn't she? How could she just run off like that?” She collapsed onto the couch, leaning into Thor's shoulder.

“She is upset with us. Though I do not condone this habit of hers, if it is as bad as you say, Loki was out of line in what he did and you were just as wrong to support him. Riley is right, she is not our child nor is she our slave. We do not have the right to dictate her actions.” His eyes never left his brother's form as he spoke, watching the way the silhouette stiffened at the mention of wrong doing.

“I did nothing wrong. I saved her from her own stupidity and held firm when she devolved into hysterics.” Loki didn't turn as he spoke, unwilling to betray to the others the guilt he was feeling. It had begun as a prank, something to get under her skin and get back at her for calling him out on his concern. But as she began to demand not only action but also apology from him, his pride flared up inside him and made him act foolishly. Now Riley was out there, wounded, alone and vulnerable. 

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Riley sighed as she sank into the steaming water in the tub. James must've had her in mind when he put it in. It was a massive stand alone tub, deep and curved so that all you had to do was float. It felt glorious to be alone and relaxed, no evil space elves, no idiot street kids, no arrogant gods to try and...

“Riley?” Loki's voice sounded from just outside the door.

“Damn it.” She blew a breath out of her nose as she submerged herself completely.

“Riley, if you are there I demand an answer for your actions.” His voice carried to her even under the water. She resurfaced, groaning as she wiped water from her eyes.

“What do you want Loki?” She tried to contain her voice, keep herself from moving instantly into a confrontation, but the old one was still too fresh in her mind.

“I have already said. I want an explanation.” She could tell both his expression and his posture, simply from the sound of his voice.

“Oh I think I made that pretty clear before I left. You were being a controlling ass and I didn't like it. It's really simple.” She reached over the side of the tub, feeling around until she found the rim of her beer bottle, taking a long swig before letting it settle back onto the tiles with a soft “clink”.

“That is a good way to injure yourself you know.” Loki's voice sounded from just behind her, causing her to scream and jump almost clean out of the bathtub, her body curling forward to hide her body.

“What the hell man?” She all but screamed as she turned in the tub to face him, keeping her legs up and together, arms crossed around herself.

“Talking through the door seemed a bit foolish, and as I have already seen you without apparel once before, I did not think it would affect you so...drastically.” He grinned, his eyes travelling slowly down her form.

“Ass. Out. Now.” She freed one arm enough to point toward the door, her eyes promising all manner of death if he didn't immediately remove himself. He held his hands up in a mocking gesture of surrender before vanishing, knocking on the other side of the door to show he was back where she felt he should be. Riley could have cried from frustration, reaching behind her and pulling the plug out of the wonderfully warm bath that had been making her forget about the idiot on the other side of the door.

She stood, wrapping a towel around herself, reaching up and grabbing James' old bathrobe from it's hook on the door and tying it securely around her waist. She wrapped a towel around the dripping ends of her hair as she opened the door. Loki walked in as she retreated back to the lip of the tub, sitting down and beginning to towel dry her hair.

“Explain to me why mortals are so modest. Surely you must know I have seen females in the past, in equal states of undress, and yet you act as though you have something special to protect.” He laughed softly, once again taking in her appearance. He had preferred her nude.

“People just don't like being exposed okay? Some of it is social convention, some of it is learned guilt from being too long in a patriarchal judeo christian society, and some of it is just that I don't want you eye fucking me every time you see my tits. It's weird, and uncomfortable.” She tossed the towel over the side of the tub, grabbing her beer and walking out of the room, her bare feet making soft slapping noises with every step.

“You do not enjoy the fact that I find you passably attractive?” He walked sideways, keeping step with her the whole way across the room, sinking onto the bed beside her as she sat down and pulled an ashtray off a night stand.

“First of all, that was a back handed compliment, I'm way more than passably attractive, second of all, if you think I'm hot enough to spy on in the bathtub, why haven't you made a move yet, and third, and this is the really important bit, if you do anything, at all, to my cigs or beer, or anything else I have while I'm in this place, I will make sure you are useless to women for the rest of your life. Understand?” She smiled and Loki found that he felt true apprehension. Perhaps he had pushed her too far? He grinned as he considered ways to test his theory.

“You are correct, of course. While I admit that you are quite...attractive, for a mortal, you will never compare to the ladies of Asgard.” He looked off into the middle distance, trying to add as much flare to the statement as possible.

“Oh, you mean like Sif? Yeah, she doesn't seem that into you.” Riley blew out a stream of smoke as she watched Loki's face fall.

“You tread on dangerous ground mortal.” He warned, turning his face to her.

“Oh fuck off. If you don't wanna hear the truth then leave.” She tapped ash off her cigarette, popping open another beer off the nightstand and taking a swig.

“You remind me of a friend I once had. Volstag was his name. He too had a love for tobacco and ale, and you are about the same size.” He turned away, missing the perfectly calm look on Riley's face. All was quiet for a moment and Loki had begun to believe himself the victor when cold beer washed over his head.

Riley knew better than to stay so close. She was up and away, beer bottle in hand, the moment the last drop was gone. She stood, back to the wall, bottle out and ready as Loki turned to face her.

“That was...unwise.” He phased out of sight, reappearing just in front of her. She moved to swing, but before she could so much as budge, he had her back against the wall, both hands pinned, cigarette and bottle both gone. “You are an infuriating menace!” He growled, his face inching closer to hers.

“And you are an arrogant pompous controlling manipulative...” She never got a chance to finish her sentence. Loki's lips seared against her own, pushing down with enough force to hurt. She expected herself to fight, to kick him and run, but all she found she could do, all she wanted to do, was return it with as much force as she could.

It didn't last long. A few seconds passed before Loki seemed to come to his senses. He looked down at her as if he'd never seen her before, as if he had no memory of how they'd come to be in this position. But his skin was flushed, his irises were almost completely gone, and if the panting was anything to go on, Riley had definitely made an impression. He blinked for a moment, still holding her pinned, robe hanging open, towel sagging to reveal an ample amount of skin. The swell of her breasts was keeping it in place for the moment but it wouldn't last long.

“What are you?” His voice was soft, not at all like the last time he'd asked that question.

“I'm just a girl.” She smirked, her higher brain function deciding to just let her have this one. And that was exactly what Loki needed to hear. He was on her again in a heart beat, dropping her hands so that he could tear away the robe and towel, leaving her shivering and naked against the wall. His own clothes followed a moment later, fading out of existence as if they'd never been.

The skin to skin contact was amazing. It sent fire dancing through both of them in currents, making each touch and caress seem like a live wire. Riley had never felt anything like it before. It was as if she were a virgin again, every nerve fresh and new. She pressed into him, needing to feel more of him, all of him.

Loki, for his part, was attempting to remain in control of his mind. It wasn't easy with Riley's hands moving every where, stroking and gliding across parts of him that had been denied touch for far too long. She knew her way with men, he would give her that. It came as a shock to him, as focused as he was, when she surged forward, pressing him into the wall instead, sinking to her knees before him.

The next few minutes passed in a blur for him. All he could clearly remember is his hand in her hair, guiding her as she bobbed back and forth, and the noises she made as she moved. It had almost been his undoing. But he was not one to be outdone. It took all his willpower to pull her away, but a moment later found them once again reversed, her body pinned against the wall with his own. 

He allowed her a moment of shocked appreciation before his hands began a journey of their own. He quickly discovered all those little places women have that set them to writhing and, once he'd found those little buttons, all he did was press them. He kept one hand against her center, teasing and flicking against that wonderful nerve bundle, using his other hand to add the finishing touches until she was coming apart in his hands. He swallowed her cries with a deep kiss, their tongues dueling for supremacy as her body quaked with the pleasure of his continued attention. But Loki could only tease, and be teased for so long. A few moment more passed before he was lifting her bodily from the floor, her legs wrapping around his hips automatically.

“Are you pure?” His voice was strained, clearly exerting any control over his impulses was difficult.

“What?” Riley opened her eyes for the first time in over a minute, fixing him with a confused stare.

“Have you been with a man before?” Loki spoke quickly, grinding out the words as he pressed into her center.

“Yes, not a virgin, please move.” It was the “please” that did it. Loki had been with women before, but never at their insistence. His brother had made it a point of sending him “entertainment” whenever he deemed it necessary. Riley was the first to ever simply ask for it, and he was determined to deliver.

He pressed into her fully with one thrust, burying himself up to the hilt in her wet center. The sound that came from her was heavenly and it made his knees feel weak. It felt different somehow, better than any other woman he'd ever had. It sent a thrill through his blood to think he was making her make those sounds and he would hear her scream his name before it was over.

Riley could hardly breathe, she'd never felt such pleasure before. It was like her body was burning from the inside, but freezing on the outside. Her nerves ached with the sensation and she found her hips moving of their own accord, striking a slow rhythm to match his thrusts. She forced her eyes open, wanting to see his face screwed up in pleasure, only to be met with twin green orbs, burning with a passion she'd never seen before. She leaned forward and captured his lips in a kiss, holding on for dear life as he began to speed up. 

She gasped as he began to brush against that one spot inside her. The one spot no man could ever seem to find. She felt her body beginning to tense up, like a spring coiling inside her and as it released, she screamed out his name, her back arching so far it hurt. Loki followed her quickly into oblivion, hanging onto her shaking form as he spent himself inside her.

It was either could do to remain standing, as they both came down from bliss. Riley slowly unwound herself from him, placing her feet securely on the floor before stepping away. Loki merely leaned against the wall, watching out of the corner of his eye as she gathered both towel and robe and wrapped up in both. Something was wrong with the way she was walking. She was favoring one side, like it hurt to bend too far the other way.

“Riley, are you well?” He stood away from the wall, conjuring only breeches and shirt to cover himself.

“Yeah, just hurt is all.” She grabbed her pack of cigs and tapped one out, lighting it and collapsing onto the mattress, a lazy smile on her face.

“And what is it you are smiling at?” He tried to keep the tension from his voice, trying to pass it off as a jest.

“It's just been a long time since I've been...well, let's just say you are by far some of the best ass I've had in ages.” She took another drag, laughing softly as she exhaled. Loki settled beside her, a finger tracing a lazy line up the leg left exposed by both towel and robe.

“And are you...experienced?” He grinned, watching her eyes roll.

“Oh don't get all jealous on me now God of Mischief, it was before I knew you.” She looked up at him, grinning.

“Oh well I suppose I can forgive you then.” He returned the grin, watching as she sat up.

“So...are we gonna be weird now? I mean, you aren't gonna start courting me or something right?” She took another puff and tapped ash into the tray.

“No. Why? Is it a common custom here to wed whomever you...please?” He let another lazy grin spread across his face, finger continuing to trace patterns. Riley giggled, moving her leg from his grasp and putting the cigarette out, looking at him as she stood and moved over to the battered old chest of drawers in the corner.

“No, not anymore. Used to be though and I guess I thought our society was kinda based on yours. Anyway, I'm beat.” She turned from him, letting robe and towel drop as she dug in the drawers, pulling out a pair of black cotton underwear and an oversized green sleeping shirt.

“Wearing my colors already? My, I must've made an impression.” He grinned, standing as well, his clothes shifting to match hers.

“Oh haha, you're sooo hilarious. You're forgetting that I had these clothes long before I met you.” She walked back to the bed, trying to hide the affect he was having on her.

“Of course, forgive my assumptions.” He bowed low, waiting for her to walk by. All it took was one quick shove and she was on her back on the bed, hair fanned out around her. He let out a small laugh, and that was all either could clearly remember for the rest of the night.


	11. Fight, Flight, and A Mission

She was sore, very sore, that was the first thought that came into Riley's mind as she woke the next morning. It confused her at first, her mind searching for a reason to explain the soreness. But then images of the night before began to surface and she found herself grinning through the muscle pain. It had truly been an interesting night. She stretched, her breath hitching in pain as her side complained.

“Ah, finally awake.” The voice sent her into immediate wakefulness, her whole body primed and alert. She thought for a moment of feigning sleep, acting as if she were merely resettling herself. There was no real light to speak of, just the soft white fuzz on the TV screen, but she knew there was no fooling the elf sitting in the corner. 

“It's a little early for me, could you come back a little later? Maybe in a hundred years or so. I should be awake by then.” She tried to push as much confidence into her voice as she could, hoping to project a power she knew she didn't have.

“Don't be rude, I'm not here for you. Where is the Asgardian?” He stood, walking purposefully over to her, a blade flashing in the light of the TV as he neared her.

“Which one?” She sat up, scooting back across the mattress so that her back was pressed firmly against the wall. She had a moment to question her tendency to corner herself before the blade was pressed dangerously close to her neck.

“The one you so enthusiastically coupled with last night.” His voice was both harsh and condescending. It sent a wave of anger through her that overrode her common sense. She met his gaze, ice gathering in her hand as she prepared to strike.

“I do hope you're talking about me.” Loki spoke from the corner, the door swinging silently shut behind him. Malekith paused, a lazy smile spreading across his face as he turned, his body taking a combat stance.

“You have something I need.” Malekith began to approach Loki, his movements looking more like a great cat than anything near human. Riley tried to catch Loki's eye, warn him or offer assistance, but all he did was slowly sit down the bag he was carrying. She thought she saw him wave her off, two fingers barely twitching in a downward motion, but she couldn't be sure. She kept herself ready, the chill in her hands becoming almost painful as she held the ice back. If he needed her, she would be ready.

“Oh? And what would that be might I ask?” He began to circle the elf, Malekith moving to match him so that they were always facing, neither advancing or retreating. It was to be a long game between them. “You have the Aether, surely there is nothing of mine you require.” A lazy smile spread over his face, looking almost gruesome in the low light.

“There is something else. Something I have been searching for. You carried it for some time. I sensed it again in that mortal's dwelling. A stone, from your world, ancient and quite powerful. With it I will be able to link this pathetic realm and our own. Once they are joined, I will rid myself of the light and all who reside in it. Where is the stone?” Malekith stopped his circling, moving forward in a sharp motion. Loki vanished just as Malekith's blade pierced the air where he'd stood.

“I'm afraid you will have to be a bit more specific. There are many stones in Asgard. I have one of them with me now, though I suspect is it not the one you are after.” As he spoke, he made a complex gesture with his hand and a glowing blue cube appeared, spraying ice, snow and frigid air all around Malekith, encasing him in several feet of clear hard ice. As he did, his true Jotunn appearance seemed to fade into view. Riley took her moment to sink the ice into the floor, creating a perfect seal around the elf. She flew out of the bed, tossing all her belongings into either her purse of the bag Loki had put down. She left the beer, knowing that now was hardly the time for it, but she grabbed the chips and candy bars. She had no idea where they were going or if she would be able to eat soon and the last thing she needed was for her blood sugar to drop mid sprint. She shimmied into her jeans as Loki faded back to his usual appearance and was pulling on her shoes as he slipped past Malekith. “That won't hold him for long. We must go, now.” He grabbed her arm as she grabbed the bag and pulled her from the room, shutting it and sealing it with ice as well.

“What the hell was that about? And where did you go? What's in here?” She tried to stop and look, but Loki merely continued to pull her along.

“Take me to your vehicle, we must get my brother and be gone from here at once.” His tone had gone back to the normal cold distance she had grown accustomed to. Well, at least he wasn't acting any different toward her. Maybe he would once they were out of the incredibly dangerous situation. She stopped herself mid thought, wondering just how insane she was to be worrying about a potential relationship during a flight for her life. She took him around the corner where she'd parked and they were in the car and gone before Malekith could clear the building.

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Jane woke to the sound of the door slamming. She'd stayed up most of the night, alternately researching and trying to get a hold of Riley. She gasped as she saw Loki standing above her, face cold, literally and figuratively, a hand reaching down toward her.

“Whoa! What's going on?” She sat up and away from him, scurrying back across the floor until she bumped into the solid back of her boyfriend. 

“Rouse Thor, we must be gone from here as soon as possible. Riley, go and pack some things, a week's worth should do and remember, we must travel swift and light.” Jane watched as Riley simply nodded, putting a paper bag down on the carpet before running down the hall. The sound of drawers being opened started up a moment later.

“What is going on?” Jane repeated, her voice beginning to gain a shrill quality.

“I will inform you both as soon as my brother is awake.” Loki took the bag and walked over to Riley's alter, taking out a small sack and emptying it out onto the aged cloth. He proceeded to take everything from in, laying it all out in an ordered row before wrapping it all in the altar cloth itself. Once it was tied off at both ends, the whole thing began to glow faintly. He then removed another, larger sack from the bag and began to reset the whole thing. Jane sighed and shook Thor awake. He came to consciousness with his usual graceful snort and gaze blearily around the room.

“Ah good, some things never change. Thor, get up, we have a problem.” He used the voice he reserved for battle conditions and watched as his brother's mind raced to full alertness. 

“What is it my brother?” The tone of excitement in his voice made Loki feel slightly ill. It never ceased to amaze him, how quick his brother was to spill blood in the name of honor and glory.

“Malekith has discovered something about Riley and myself, something I have kept hidden from you. We must leave this place, this whole city, now.” He finished setting the altar and stood, moving quickly down the hall. Jane could just make out a muttered conversation, but the words were too faint to hear. Both Riley and Loki appeared a moment later. Loki was carrying a large duffel bag over his shoulder while Riley had a much smaller one slung across her torso.

“How shall we travel?” Thor was already up and dressed in full armor. Jane was still struggling into her pants, modesty forgotten in the face of imminent bodily harm.

“I'm driving, and we're stopping for breakfast, nothing big, just drive through.” Loki appeared about to argue but she fixed him with a stare and he sighed, resigned. “Oh for god's sake Jane, let's go already.” She walked over to the woman, shoving her over onto the couch and forcing her shoes on her feet. “Seriously woman, how have you survived around these two for this long without knowing how to hustle. Now let's go.” She turned, ignoring Jane's look of outright insult as she marched past a smirking Loki and out the door. 

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

They had barely left the city limits, Jane was still passing out various breakfast items, when the car gave a lurch. Riley swerved to a stop, watching in horror as her town began to erupt into chaos in the rear view mirror. Jane turned, her face draining of all color as she watched the ship descend.

“Riley, drive, now.” Loki's voice was quiet and full of command. Jane looked to the normally spirited woman, expecting some kind of push back, but all she saw was a quiet resignation as she shifted the car back into gear and took off down the road.

“Okay, will someone please tell me what is going on?” Jane looked between the still obviously stricken Riley and the stoic Loki.

“Malekith plans to take over not only your universe, but mine too. For that he needs the rune stones that I keep on my altar, the ones Loki stole. Apparently, since they came from your world, and were held by someone from your world, they form a bridge between the two universes.” Riley spoke quickly, digging a cigarette out of her bag. It burst suddenly to life and she muttered a quiet thanks back toward Loki as she rolled down the window.

“You said that he had discovered something about Riley and yourself?” Thor turned to his brother, sensing there was something he wasn't sharing.

“It is not enough for the stones to simply be in my presence, or my possession. They must be close to something from both realms. The stone that fell through to this realm during the last convergence was apparently a joining stone. It needed both Riley and Myself to achieve its full power. Malekith intends to use it during the time of the convergence to spread the Aether through both realms.” Loki spoke as if he had no emotion at all, simply stating facts as he stared out the window. Both Jane and Thor noticed the odd lack of tension between the Riley and Loki. The last time they'd been in a car together, it had devolved into an all out war, but now Loki seemed content to ignore the cigarette smoke and Riley seemed more than happy to drive in silence.

“What happened between you two?” Jane voiced the question, knowing it would probably get less than a favorable answer.

“We talked.” Riley deadpanned, reaching for the radio knob. Classic Rock began playing in the car, a quiet sound in the background of the mayhem still barely visible behind them. “Why did he attack the city? That's the one thing I don't get?” She directed her voice back behind her, her eyes catching Loki's in the rear view mirror for a moment.

“He must have gone to your home, found the false altar we left and attacked the city out of spite. Perhaps he knew we were no longer there, thus the city was no longer valuable to him. Perhaps he thought we were still there and hoped to flush us out. It is hard to say.” He shrugged and went back to staring out the window.

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

They drove through the day and most of the night, stopping only for bathroom breaks and drive through. It wasn't until Riley was falling asleep at the wheel that Jane insisted the stop for the night. The first place they found was a fleabag motel just off the interstate. It was like stepping into the 70's, there was even shag carpet in all the rooms. Jane expected Loki to complain, but he remained silent as Riley got them two rooms as far from the road as possible. Riley passed Jane a key card, keeping the other one in her back pocket as they headed back to the car. She drove them around to the back of the building and parked in a space that butted up against the forest that surrounded the little motel. Loki was out first, helping Riley from the car, keeping a hand over her injured side as she struggled to straighten up.

“Well, rest up I guess and keep an eye out for anything that may try to kill you. If something does happen, book it into the woods, we're right next to you so we'll hear if something goes wrong. Otherwise, do not disturb for at least five hours.” Riley slid the key card into the door and disappeared into the darkness beyond.

“Goodnight to you too, sheesh.” Jane did the same with her door, flicking on the light switch by the door. The room was small and dark. The carpet was a burnt orange and the walls an even darker brown. There were circle on everything, matching the orange and brown motif, she felt like she was walking through a fun house. She was about to comment, maybe go ask for another room before she realized that it didn't really matter. They were on the run now and couldn't afford to be picky. She stripped down quickly, sliding under the covers and trying to get comfortable on the terrible mattress. Thor joined her a moment later, holding her close as they both tried to make sense of what had just happened. They were soon blissfully unconscious, unaware of the occupants one room over.

Riley and Loki were not so lucky. They sat on the bed, facing each other, eyes closed and palms pressed together. The room was so silent that you could hear the dust settle into the ridiculously long shag carpeting. Energy crackled around them, the air thick with tension as a ball of light began to form, pushing their palms apart. It began to glow, symmetrical at first, a perfect sphere of pale blue light but as it continued to grow, it became oblong, favoring Loki's side until it appeared to be two spheres, fighting for the same space. The growth continued, Riley's orb barely moving as Loki's became ever larger until eventually, it pushed Riley from the bed.

“Damn it!” She slapped the carpet beside her, struggling back onto the bed. She expected some kind of berating from Loki, some kind of chiding remark about not focusing or not having enough power, but instead she got a quiet chuckle and a smile. “What?” She tried not to be offended by the reaction. Her indignation on served to make him laugh harder. She looked at him, her face spreading into a smile despite herself. “What?” She repeated, leaning forward. His laughter was contagious and she found herself giggling slightly as she waited for his answer. It took him a moment to calm down, his eyes opening to reveal the first true happiness she had seen out of him.

“You looked ridiculous.” He spoke softly, a joking tone in his voice.

“What, you wanted me to fall off the bed gracefully?” She asked, her tone incredulous.

“I did expect some awareness of your surroundings, yes.” He teased, his smile fading into a lopsided grin.

“You said focus entirely on putting out my energy, I can't do that and focus on where my ass in on the bed.” She tried her best not to sound defensive, hoping to keep this from becoming their normal, tension fueled arguing.

“Well then you must train until you can. But not tonight. You are our only way around and I will not have you controlling that machine while you are exhausted. Go to sleep.” He got up, pulling down his side of the blankets and sliding between them, the majority of his clothing fading away. She sighed, stripping down as well and climbing in beside him. They laid there awkwardly for a moment before Riley turned toward the stoic god.

“This is gonna sound really weird but could I lay against you? I normally sleep holding a pillow, and you're laying on the only other one.” She reached out toward him tentatively. He laughed again, raising an arm for her to scoot closer.

“We have been together rather more intimately than this in the past day. I fail to see how this would be in any way odd. You really must lose some of your prudence Riley, it does you no favors.” He laughed softly as she groaned, hiding her face against his chest.

“I will never understand you. I think you do this on purpose, just to confuse me.” She sighed, settling her arm around his waist and laying her head over his heart. 

“Yes Riley, my whole purpose in life is to make yours harder.” Loki had meant for his tone to come out sardonic and dry, but instead it sounded like good natured teasing. Truly this woman was having an effect on him.

“Well knock it off, I like you better like this.” She stuck her tongue out at him as he stretched over to flick off the light.

“Duly noted, now go to sleep.” He resettled himself, subconsciously pulling her closer as the light faded from the room.

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

The next few days passed in the same manner, drive all day, eat nothing but fast food and gas station snacks, camp out at a motel and get on the road far too early for anyone's liking. Jane had asked several times where they were headed, but Riley seemed to either not know, or not feel like telling. She had said it was on the West Coast, which gave Jane hope. 

“So, what exactly are we going to do once we get wherever we're going? Sit around and wait for the end of the world?” She tried to inject some humor in the comment but she could tell that everyone was thinking the exact same thing.

“We need to find where the worlds are bleeding together. James thought that it was in the city, since that's where you came thought. But I've been looking over his notes and the explanations of the equations that you gave me, at least, I had been, until everything went to hell, and it doesn't make sense for the city to be the focus. If it was, then all the weirdness you've been telling me about world wide, would only be happening on or near the lab. His machine just opened the gate, like a remote switch, the gate itself is somewhere else, a lot bigger. Loki said he can find it once we're close, it'll feel kind of like the secret passage he was taking into Svartalfheim when James flipped the switch. I don't know exactly where that is, which is why I haven't told you where we are going. Now, will you please, for the love of the Goddess, stop asking so many god damned questions.” Riley rattled the information off at lightning speed, clearly at the end of her rope with Jane's interrogation. Jane, for her part, had the decency to look chagrined, lapsing into awkward silence as she turned to stare out the window.


	12. Developments and Destinations

Riley couldn't sleep. It was their third day on the road and so far all they'd found out was the many ways to irritate each other while trapped in a car all day. The urgent energy that had been pushing her through the last few days was beginning to dissipate bringing on a quiet sense of resignation behind it. It was like her heart had already come to terms with their failure. They had found no sign of the portal, no new way to defeat their enemy and the world was only getting worse.

It was too quiet in her room. Loki had elected to sleep away from her, saying that it would be less disruptive to her training if he kept a discreet distance. She didn't want to say that it was his absence that was causing her troubled sleep, she was still too unsure of her feelings for him, but the warmth around her and the lack of the buzz of his energy near her made her feel too still. Her mind couldn't quiet itself, spinning over all that had happened since James died and leading her down all the dark roads that seemed to be the inevitable future. 

She sighed, tossing the blankets off her body and sitting up, her legs dangling off the side of the bed. Her hand groped around on the nightstand for the remote. She usually slept with the TV on, liking the light and subtle sound. It kept her mind from doing exactly what it was doing now and, since she couldn't have Loki there to tire her brain out, she would feed it pop culture and political debates until it gave in.

She felt the hard plastic under her hand and flipped on the set. She surfed through the various shopping networks and infomercials, laughing at all the completely unnecessary products people came up with. There were no less than ten different hair styling machines that all did the same thing, they were just painted different colors. There was a rope LED light that you could install in a bike tire, useful, but far too expensive when you could just go buy the same thing from a home department store and tape it on yourself. But her favorite was probably the quintessential christian programs. She'd passed three of them already and they all appeared to be the same. An older man in a tailored suit in some soft color, like dove gray, hair smoothed back and parted to cover the bald spots, microphone badly concealed behind a cross shaped tie pin, and all of them were talking about the exact same thing. 

Finally Riley settled on the west coast feed of CNN. She hated the national news networks, they always seemed to follow the political ties of whoever was in office, passing over stories that should be national news in favor of reports that, in the grand scheme of things, really didn't seem to matter. But all the local networks were either off the air for the night or showing nothing but the weather so she had to pick the best of the worst.

She was expecting maybe a passing blurb or snippet of information in between the fluff pieces and mudslinging, maybe some filler piece about strange debris in some old lady's backyard. But what she saw instead almost made her scream. The whole of the East Coast was experiencing gravitational anomalies. Some cities were so unstable that they'd been evacuated. Every few minutes was an interview with another resident of another town whose car had simply vanished or whose cat had begun to fall through an infinite loop. There were scenes of children throwing shoes and soda cans into thin air and having them rocket out somewhere else, almost always knocking into the shins or arms of an unlucky by stander. But these stories were tame in comparison to the one currently making headlines. The feature piece was a town, her town, completely leveled and cordoned off. There was a list of names beside its picture, constantly scrolling down, at the top was the banner “List of Deceased”. The only structure still standing was a tower, tall and black against the sky, Malekith's ship.

She felt her mind begin to spin, looping the images into a horror show of what had once been her happy little life. Before she could even register movement, she was falling back on the bed, her body apparently gone numb with shock and grief. She felt cold surrounding her, creeping out of her body and spreading in a slow creeping wave across the entire room. Soon she could see her breath above her, and she could no longer feel her limbs, or her skin. Somewhere in her mind, her emotionless logic center was screaming at her to sit up and calm down, or go outside where the air was warmer, or simply to move, anything to keep herself from freezing to death, but she found that she lacked the will to follow its command. She knew that if she stayed she would die, there was no one else in the room and Loki was two rooms down, probably already asleep. But all she could think about, all she could see, was her city in ruins and a list of the dead almost One Hundred Thousand names long. It was her fault. It was all her fault. If she hadn't been in the lab that day, if she hadn't taken the job in the first place, James would still be alive, he would probably have never even reached his goal and Malekith would never have come to her home and destroyed everything in her life she'd ever known.

She was so lost to her grief that she didn't hear the door burst open or the resulting shout of alarm as Loki wrenched her body from the bed of ice it had been resting in and ran with her back out into the warmth of the summer night. She felt his hands running over the skin left bare on her arms and legs, felt the warmth slowly seeping back into her body, bringing with it relief from the fog her mind had fallen into. 

“Riley! What were you thinking!” Loki shouted, pulling her upright, forcing her to catch his gaze.

“It's gone, it's all gone. The city...Malekith destroyed it all.” Her voice cracked as the shock finally broke, giving way to grief that flowed through her like a tsunami. Her body wrapped in on itself as she was wracked with sobs. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as she wept, pouring out her grief onto the cement of the patio on which she rested. For a time, everything was a blur of tears and whispered comforts from the god who held her, but, after what felt like an eternity, the tears began to slow.

“Riley, please, I need you to be calm and focus. Your powers are feeding on your emotional distress.” His voice sounded completely calm and without emotion. It sunk through the dismal haze in her mind like a nail and struck the small core of anger that had begun to build.

“How? How can I be calm? My whole life has been destroyed! Everyone I have known is either dead or displaced and I am stranded on the other side of a continent with next to no money and no options to speak of!” She pushed away from his embrace, turning to face him, her face a mask of rage. “What should I focus on? The list of the dead? The images of destruction that used to be my town? How about the death of my friend? The world is going to be ripped inside out by a place that isn't even supposed to exist and there isn't a god damned thing I can do about it!” She slammed her fists into the ground. Ice erupted all around her, forming a cage of sharp, nearly transparent needles that stopped just short of Loki's face. 

“There, you see? You lack the control you need to indulge in this kind of outburst. I know this is hard for you. I understand better than most what it is like to suddenly find yourself alone in the world. But you are not alone. Yes, your home has been destroyed. Yes, your friend has passed away. But you are far from alone. I am here with you, and I am not going anywhere.” He touched the nearest needle, turning it and all that were connected to it into a soft fall of snow, moving quickly to catch Riley as her body began to fall forward. 

He held her for a moment, warring with himself on what course of action to take. His heart all but begged for him to take her to his room and hold her until she awoke, but his mind demanded he return her to her room. She was not of his world, she was a mortal and she was only going to get in his way when the time came to put his plan into action. She was a risk, a crazy mad wonderful risk, but in the end, she was a loose end. He sighed as he stood, carrying her back into the now ordinary room and laid her out on the bed. He pulled the covers over her body, calming its quiet shivers and turned to leave but couldn't make himself move away. His body felt at war with itself, one half wanted to lay there with her, explore these feelings he had been trying so hard to fight, the other wanted to disappear from the room, from her life, from his brother's watchful eye, from all the complications and simply be free. Sighing once more, he closed his eyes and let his body decide.

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The next morning was tense, breakfast was a rushed, silent affair, and before any of them was truly ready, they were back in the car and heading up the coast once more.

“Where are we going?” Jane asked, refolding the map to fit their current position. She was an excellent navigator, Riley had to admit it. She knew her way around a map and was more reliable than any GPS Riley had ever owned. She wasn't such a great passenger though. She was irritating, always switching the radio stations around, fidgeting and humming broken lines of off key melodies that would get stuck in Riley's head for hours. It would eventually get to the point that Riley would put in one of her travel mixes and forbid the tiny brunette to touch the dial again until they stopped for gas or food.

Today however, Jane seemed to be on her best behavior. Perhaps she'd heard about what happened the night before, it had happened right outside the door to her room after all. Perhaps she had finally gotten the message that the others in the car were getting close to throwing her out. Perhaps she was just weary and running out of hope. Riley didn't bother to think on it too much. It didn't matter and she knew, logically, that the only reason she had noticed it was because her brain was searching for something, anything, to distract her from the images that were still swirling around in her mind.

“Hello? Earth to Riley?” Jane snapped her fingers next to Riley's ear, causing the younger woman to jump and swerve slightly.

“What? Don't do that! Do you want us to wreck? Jesus!” Riley looked over at the obviously startled Jane and followed the line of her eyes to the light rim of frost on the steering wheel. “Sorry. I'm sorry. Did you ask me something?” Riley released a breath and drew the frost back into her hands, wincing at the pain of the crystals as they broke through her skin.

“Yeah, I asked where we were going. Do you want me to drive for a bit hun? You seem a bit jumpy.” Jane reached a hand out to touch her shoulder but drew it back when Riley flinched away.

“No, I'm fine, I just need to focus on the road. As for where we're going, I was thinking Yellowstone. I mean, it's one of the oldest pieces of land on this continent and the super volcano under it has been known to generate small magnetic shifts during earthquakes. Seems like it would be a good place for a portal to form. Feel free to correct me if any of that is wrong, I am by no means a scientist.” She tried to force a laugh but it ended up sounding more like she'd just been punched. 

“Sounds like a good starting place to me. I think I've got enough starting data to rig up some kind of tracking algorithm. I'll need equipment though. We left in such a hurry that I couldn't grab any of the stuff I'd brought from the lab.” Jane started to explain all the different pieces of equipment she would need, going on into detail about what each piece did and eventually into the theory that most fit their specific circumstances. It was the exact kind of background the Riley needed to ground herself in the moment. She didn't actively listen, merely let the sound of Jane's voice fill her mind, smothering all the self doubt and guilt. She sighed softly as they passed a sign for Bakersfield. In just under three hours, they would be getting out of this car for good.

“Hey Jane, grab my phone and reserve us some rooms at one of the park lodges. They don't have any in the actual park, but there are a few within walking distance of the gates. Use the Discover card in my wallet.” Riley pulled out said wallet and handed it over to the tiny brunette.

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It was getting into the afternoon when they finally found the lodge where Jane had reserved them one full cabin. It was a four bedroom, two bathroom log cabin, rustic but spacious and surprisingly high end. Riley paused to wonder just how much it had cost her. She shrugged, dropping her bag on one of the beds in one of the four bedrooms. She would worry about it after the world didn't come to an end. Who knew, maybe she would get some huge reward or something if she actually managed to solve this thing. 

“Knock knock.” Jane's voice sounded from behind her, causing her to jump slightly. “Sorry, didn't mean to surprise you, just wanted to say sorry about this place, it was the only thing they had that would accommodate all of us. Thor and Loki are both really itching to get out into the park so we're gonna head out.” She hooked a thumb over her shoulder, signaling that Riley was expected to follow as well.

“Yeah, I'm beat, I think I'm just gonna hang out here. Don't worry, I promise not to freeze anything or have a meltdown. I just need some time to refocus ya know?” Riley tried for a smile though she felt more like shoving Jane bodily out of the room. Whether she was convincing or not she couldn't tell, but Jane seemed to get the hint and gave her a small smile in return, backing out of the room and closing the door.

Riley let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding and fell back onto the bed, closing her eyes and feeling the silence press in on her ears. It was a feeling that used to make her feel uncomfortable, like she was waiting for something terrifying to make itself known, but now it was bliss. She had always considered herself to be good with people but three and half days in a car with three of the oddest people she'd ever met had really made her appreciate things like personal space and simple quiet. She heard the door shut, footsteps thumping away from the house in a steady rhythm and felt herself smile for the first time in almost twenty-four hours. She waited a few moments, giving the group time to distance themselves from the cabin and sat up. She dug her phone, portable speaker, shower supplies and a change of clothes out of her travel bag. It was time for a smoke and a shower as well as a little indulgence in the music she wasn't allowed to listen to around the others. She dug around in her purse until she found her cigarettes and headed outside onto the porch.

The view was beautiful, the cabin was secluded, settled in a copse of trees so tall Riley had to squint against the sun to see their tops. She could see the other clusters of cabins down the hill, people milled around, playing outdoor games or cooking on grills and generally enjoying each other. It sent a pang of loneliness through her that was so profoundly sharp that she almost ran down the path after Jane and the others. She took a deep breath, putting a cigarette to her lips and pressing the play button on her phone. A play list of obscure pop techno began to play and the loneliness began to fade. She smoked slowly, savoring the flavor of the tobacco and thought how much she wanted a steak dinner and beer. It had been a tradition of hers for a time. Every time she accomplished something, she would treat herself to a steak dinner, a cold beer and a cigarette. It was one of the many things about her life she had really enjoyed. She sighed, snuffing out the cigarette butt against the heel of her shoe and headed back inside, tossing her cigarettes and lighter onto her bed as she moved to the back of the cabin's main room. There were two glass doors here, frosted for privacy, behind which sat each of the bathrooms. 

She grabbed one of the courtesy towels, not wanting to go dig out the ones she had brought with her, and headed into the bathroom, setting her new outfit out of the way so it wouldn't get wet in the spray of the open faced stone shower. It was one of the best showers she'd ever seen. It was set deep into the wall, the whole roof of the thing was a massive window. Light poured into it and set the travertine tile to gleaming. The walls covered 3 sides and wrapped around to the fourth, leaving an opening big enough for two people to stand in. The stone had been patched, like a shower rail had once been hung in it, but now it was open to the air of the bathroom. The rest of the bathroom was equally well appointed, there was a massive soaker tub in one corner, set under another almost full panel of windows that faced the valley behind the lodge complex that allowed light to pour into the bathroom. The whole thing was done in colors of pale white and warm browns of all different shades, giving it a very spa like feeling that seemed to ease her sadness.

She sighed, feeling the tension start to leave her body as she shucked out of her clothing. She set her phone on the countertop, leaving the bottom corner hanging into the empty air so the sound of bounce around and amplify and pressed play. Classic rock filled the room as she stepped into the shower, sitting her small shower caddy in the furthest corner and turning on the shower. The hot water rushed over her in a relaxing torrent. For a moment, she simply stood there, feeling the rush of the water, imagining her troubles were spots of dirt on her skin that the water could simply wash away. She thought it would make her feel better, but all it did was unlock all the sadness and guilt she'd been forcing down. A few minutes later found her sobbing on the floor of the shower, the water streaming over her, washing away the tiny drops of grief that were falling continuously from her eyes.

She knew this feeling well, it was the beginning of a spiral that she had been in before. Only once had she felt this kind of pain, the day her mother and grandmother had died. It had taken her weeks to get the strength to simply smile. For the first few days, though it had felt much longer to her at the time, all she could do was curl into a ball and sob. She missed class, missed work, missed everything that a young woman could want out of life. And now it was happening again. She felt her chest constrict with the thought, panic setting in now that she was remembering just how hard those times had been. Logically she knew that she couldn't do that this time. She had things to do, people to save, the whole world was relying on her small group to save them from a threat they didn't yet fully understand. The pressure of the situation hit her like a ton of bricks and momentarily robbed her of her ability to breathe.

She sat under the water a moment longer, gathering herself and taking a calming breath, feeling her power surge erratically around her. The water turned frigid, numbing her skin with its pounding spray as she felt the power expand outward, roiling around her like a wave. She focused on a spot on the floor, a crack in one of the foot square tiles where it had been damaged, probably during installation, and patched over. She took a breath, focusing all her power at her core, letting it freeze over the pain and sorrow, gathering it like the spring in the trigger mechanism of a gun. The tighter she coiled it, the calmer she felt. She sensed more than felt the frozen ball of grief inside her. She couldn't express it, she would never be able to, but she could use it. And with that thought, she released the spring with a hoarse scream, ramming her hand down into the floor tile, shattering it. 

It hurt. There was no other way to say it. The shower returned to normal, the water feeling scalding hot after the icy deluge she'd been sitting under, but it was good to feel it. She felt lighter, all except her hand, which was slowly throbbing. It was probably broken in more than one place, she had just punched a stone after all, but even that pain was sweet to her after the enforced numbness. And she didn't cry, no more tears would come to her eyes. There would be a time to mourn, but until that time came, she would use that sadness and pain as the weapon she now knew it could be. She stood, running through her washing routine with speed, her body bouncing along to the rhythm of the song playing, lost in the simple actions of soaping and rinsing her hair, so much so that she missed the opening and closing of the bathroom door. Without warning she felt a hand grasp hers, holding it up under the light. A laugh rolled smoothly around the room.

“Did the floor anger you in some way?” Loki asked, stepping closer, naked skin pressing against naked skin.

“It looked at me funny.” She felt her heart thrum swiftly, taking on the rhythm it seemed to reserve for the trickster god.

“And do you feel better now?” His hand hovered over her already swelling knuckles, a cool sensation cascading over them as they began to knit themselves back together.

“Mostly.” She flexed her hand and smiled, it seemed so easy when he was around her. She wondered for a moment if it was because they shared power, or if she was actually starting to fall for the smug bastard. She turned, the water pushing her hair down over her shoulders. “I thought you went out.” She tried to act suspicious, but it was near impossible with a naked Loki standing this close to her.

“I did. And I am also here. Surely this doesn't surprise you.” He grinned, his hand moving to rest lazily on her hip. It felt natural to have it there, his hand fit the curve perfectly and sent shivers through her skin.

“You sneaky rat. So, what made you come back? Forget your compass?” She smirked, watching the sparks fly behind his eyes. The banter was always the best part.

“There is nothing of interest for me out there. I was momentarily excited by a strange energy pulse, until I discovered that it originated from this cabin. That piqued my interest, so I am here to investigate.” He let his eyes roam over her form, watching the drops of water trail down over her stomach, disappearing into the nest of curls at her center. “I seem to have found something of interest.” His laugh echoed around them once again.

“Oh really? Is there someone else in here too?” Riley made a show of looking around, going so far as to lean to either side of the god she was teasing, taking the chance to check out his ass both times. 

“Now now Riley, you know how I feel about your self deprecation.” He pushed her slowly back against the wall, passing them both through the spray and pinning her to the wall behind it. “I much prefer your mouth be engaged in more...pleasurable pursuits.” His smile turned positively evil with that comment, turning her insides to liquid hot puddles of desire.

“That is not fair.” She found herself laughing softly as she mock glared at him.

“Whoever said I was fair?” He asked, silencing her rejoinder with a searing kiss. It was the kind of kiss that curls toes and drops skirts and Riley was hopelessly weak against it. But she wasn't going to let him have all the control, not this time. She let herself enjoy the kiss for a moment, let the thrill run all the way down to her toes before she pushed him away, moving her foot behind him so that he ended up on the floor. She quickly followed suit, slowly dragging her body over his as she began to pepper his torso with kisses, paying special attention to the strip of skin just below his navel, which was ticklish.

He growled out a threat, something about mortal women not knowing their place before he pulled her bodily onto him and flipped them so that he was atop her. His eyes had taken on a strange gleam. She had an inkling of a thought that she should be a bit more careful with her taunting, but it was nowhere near enough to make her stop now. She just grinned and leaned forward, nipping at his neck. This only served to make his growl louder and press into her further. She could feel him pressing against her hipbone like a steel rod wrapped in satin.

“Riley, be warned, I am not one to be teased.” His voice had gotten low and quiet, almost dangerous.

“Well that's too bad, because that's all I ever do.” She laughed, sliding her body against his, eliciting the first gasp she'd ever heard from him. It sent lightning bolts through her body and she found that she didn't really want to tease him so much anymore anyway, which was good, because a moment later, she found herself pinned, legs apart, body pressed to the hilt against Loki, a silent scream stretching her lips as sensation ran through her body.

It was so unlike the other times, so...intimate. Before it had always been almost like hate sex, all scratching and furious movement, but this, this was something special. He moved slowly inside her, pressing into her core and sliding free in a maddeningly slow rhythm that had her arching bodily off the tiles. Her body began to thrum slowly, building power as she moved her hips in time with his, her hands grasping at his shoulders for some kind of anchor against the tide of signals rushing from her center to her brain. 

She tried to vocalize something, anything, just to be sure she was breathing, but whatever nonsense she had been about to babble was cut off by another toe curling kiss. She could feel almost every inch of his body as he moved against her, his chest pressed to hers, his skin, soft and electric, sliding against her as he began to quicken his pace. It felt like forever as he slowly built the tension between them, gradually speeding up the rhythm of each thrust until at the end he was driving into her with enough force and speed to lift all but her head and shoulders from the floor. She didn't think she could take much more as she began to come apart around him, her muscles tightening, body quivering as her climax rocketed through her, but still he didn't stop. It was like he was possessed, driving toward a goal she could not see. All she knew was that she could die happy, if it meant that this was the way she would go out.

She peaked twice more before he finally followed her in his own climax. She was so boneless that all she could do was gasp as he clutched her to him, riding out the last waves of pleasure. Their bodies shook in unison as they began to come down from the dizzying heights he had driven them to. The water had gone cold and the light was beginning to fail. Her phone had died and, from the sounds of the room outside, the others had returned. Riley looked up at her partner and teacher and blushed, legitimately embarrassed for the first time since they had begun their physical relationship.

“Think they heard us?” She was surprised by how hoarse she sounded, and how sore she was. 

“With as loud as you were, I am surprised my brother did not burst through the door.” He smirked, drawing out of her and helping her to her feet.

“Is this gonna make things weird with them? I mean, us doing...that, together?” She shut off the water and stepped out of the shower, grabbing a towel and wrapping up snugly in it.

“I fail to see why, surely they already knew. I mean, we have been sharing a room for the past several days and my brother is not so blindingly stupid as to miss something as obvious as that.” His smirk became a smile as he shimmered into his clothing.

“That is so cheating.” Riley grumbled, rubbing herself dry and slipping into the sweats and pajama shirt she had brought in the bathroom with her.

“Using one's own natural talent as an advantage is not cheating, it is merely being intelligent.” He nodded to her and exited the bathroom, the level of sound outside dipped for a moment and then a booming laugh echoed back through the still partially opened door. There was a knock, just as Riley was about to exit herself and Jane's flushed face peered around the corner.

“I made spaghetti and meat sauce for dinner...ya know, if you're hungry after your shower.” She bit back a laugh as her face disappeared around the door again and Riley groaned. Why did she always have to be the butt of the joke? She sighed as she walked out of the bathroom, putting on a good face and Thor began good naturedly ribbing her. No more secrets then, perhaps things were looking up after all.


	13. Discovery and Dread

The next day found Riley and the others traipsing through the forest. It had looked so serene and inviting from the lodge house, all green pines and open trails. But Riley soon found that it was, in fact, a world of trip hazards and small bugs that liked to bite her exposed skin. She was convinced that she would be nothing more than one huge mosquito bite by the time they retired for the day, which wasn't looking to be any time soon.

“Honestly guys, why are we out here? Loki has already said that he's not feeling any kind of strange energy around here and if what Jane said is true, the portal would be throwing it off like crazy. Why don't we go back to the house and try a different direction tomorrow?” She knew she sounded almost desperate at this point, but she didn't know how much more of the wilderness she could take.

“We will continue to search until we find the portal. This is the most likely direction. These “hot beds” that you mentioned, where the volcano is reported to be, are the most likely spot for the portal to open. We will continue until we reach them.” Thor sounded almost excited as he spoke, like it was all some kind of game that he was determined to win. Loki, on the other hand, seemed almost as out of sorts and Riley felt. Perhaps it was from being in the constant company of his brother, perhaps he was sensing he wasn't telling them about. Regardless of the cause, Riley knew that if her complaining continued for much longer, he would silence her himself.

“What does the map say? How far away are we? If the portal is as big as I suspect it is, we should be able to see it from at least a mile away.” Jane chimed in, ever the voice of reason and settler of conflicts. 

Riley pulled the map out, spreading it out on a nearby rock. She took her marker out, something she had made sure to pack when they left the house this morning. It included all the known paths through the park, complete with landmarks and mile markers. She looked around, trying to remember the last major landmark they'd seen. It had been a rock formation, something that looked man made, though the note on the map said it had been the product of erosion and wind sheer. She tried to remember the amount of time that had passed since they'd seen it. Using this information, she tracked their distance on the map and marked it in red, showing how far they were from the spot where the volcano was bubbling away underground.

“Oh wow, we're closer than I thought we were. It looks like a mile and a half to me, but someone might wanna double check me on that. My math isn't as good as it used to be.” She looked up, grinning sheepishly as Loki walked over to stand beside her, leaning directly over her to examine the map over her head. 

“You appear to be correct, this time.” He grinned, a soft chuckle echoing through his chest and vibrating into her back. She stiffened slightly, the vibration and subtle sound shooting straight to her core, just as he knew it would. She turned her head, aiming a glare at his chin, seeing as he was too tall for her to actually meet his eyes from her current position. “Shall we?” A hand appeared on the edge of her vision, almost encircling her.

“Oh give it a rest you two.” Jane laughed softly, walking over and grabbing the map and Riley's hand, pulling her out of the pseudo cage formed by Loki's leaning body. Thor barked out a laugh, startling a few small birds from a nearby tree and clapped his brother on the back as he walked past, taking the lead for the first time. Jane grinned over at Riley, her face a picture of mischief as she leaned in close. “I think he might really be into you. He's not normally like this, at least from what Thor has told me. I don't know what you did girl, but it worked.” She laughed softly, nudging Riley with her shoulder before hurrying to catch up to her own lover, leaving Riley to be in quiet shock over her words.

She thought back over the last few days, examining the differences in Loki's behavior. He was still brusque and standoffish most of the time, but it seemed that his soft moments were coming closer and closer together. He was gentler with her, jokingly insulting her instead of trying to seriously upset her. He hadn't outright insulted her in days, and that sex in the shower had been...different.

“Riley, don't fall behind.” Thor's voice floated back to her, bringing her out of her reverie and making her realize she's stopped moving as she thought. She sighed and broke into a slow run, catching up to them quickly and falling into step behind Thor and Jane, her mind once again going back to the enigma that was Loki.

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Malekith was not happy. He'd torn the whole city apart brick by brick. Every human had been questioned and killed. Why was he no closer to finding what he so desperately sought? Surely there was some sign of where they had gone. It was impossible to hide from one such as himself. 

He turned from his stand at the window of his ship, looking as one of the many humans he had recruited came running up to him. The look of fear apparent and on youth's face let him know before the boy even spoke that his mission had been a failure as well.

“My lord, we found signs of their departure from town, but it was right before we began the decimation of the city, it is impossible to tell where they've gone.” He knelt down, bowing his head low, foolishly hoping to be spared the wrath he'd seen befall so many of his kind.

“Impossible you say? Surely that road only leads to a small number of places. This land is not so vast as to be impossible to map.” He cast his voice low, allowing the threat to creep slowly into it. 

“Yes my lord. But it intersects a number of other roads, those roads in turn intersect others like a web across the entire country. Without knowing where they were headed, it is...very difficult to predict where they would be headed.” The boy had begun to tremble, but he had learned quickly enough to amend his speech. Perhaps there was hope for this one.

“Very difficult it may be. But surely with the tools I have made available to you, it is not impossible to accomplish. Rise and go back to the task I have set for you.” He turned his back on the human, hearing the almost silent laugh and grinning. Yet another stupid mortal won over to his cause, simply by sparing him the torment he'd been forced to observe when those before him had failed. He turned his gaze to the skies, watching for the tell tale shimmer of the portal that would lead him to his victory. He could feel it, out past the visible horizon, waiting for him to find it, calling to him, it's pull almost more than he could resist. But the time was not yet right. He must find and silence those who would stand in his way. 

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It was almost dark by the time they reached the volcano field. The temperature had been rising steadily for the past ten minutes, increasing the humidity to the point that both Jane and Riley had stripped out of their flannel over shirts, their tank tops beginning to stick to their skin as the moisture in the air beaded up on their skin.

“Clearly, people who don't believe in this whole super volcano thing have never been here in person. It feels like we're about to find an open lava pit. Why the hell is it so humid?” Riley pulled at the neck of her tank top, trying in vain to increase the air flow between her skin and the fabric.

“There used to be a lake here, but it's been slowly evaporating as the magma under the lake bed gets closer to the surface.” Jane fanned herself as she spoke, her hair already pulled up into a messy bun at the nape of her neck, small hairs around her face and neck were still sticking to her skin. Riley had opted for a high ponytail, preferring to keep her mop of hair off her head and neck as much as possible.

They stepped out of the tree line, taking in the scene before them. There was nothing around them, no green anywhere. It was just a bleak grayish brown, all slightly slanting uphill, leading to what looked like a small pool. It was almost cerulean in the center, fading out through all the shades of blue, into green, then yellow, through orange and into red as it spread out in twisting tendrils. Riley thought for a moment that the red was lava, not water, but the lack of steam coming from the tendrils proved it to simply be vibrantly colored water.

“Wow. So this is terrifying. I am not walking out there. With the luck I've been having lately, the damn thing will explode the moment I get to the middle.” She took a cautious step back into the treeline, fear plain to see on her face.

“Relax Riley, seismologists and volcanologists both agree that this thing isn't due to erupt for at least another century, and that's if it's early, which volcanoes usually aren't. Besides, this basin hasn't changed in the last two hundred years, and plenty of people have been traipsing around on it. Just don't get too close to the water and you should be alright.” Jane smiled, taking hold of Thor's hand and walking out onto the barren earth of the basin.

Riley shuddered, waiting for something horrible to happen. Volcanoes had always been something that terrified her. Perhaps it was because of that rash of volcano movies that come out in the late Nineties, or maybe it was just a healthy mammalian fear of something she knew could char broil her in a split second. Either way, she couldn't seem to calm her racing heart as she slowly stepped out onto the grayish sand.

“Riley, you are being foolish.” Loki appeared beside her, sweeping her up into his arms and walking purposefully after his brother's retreating back. She squeaked quietly, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling herself closer.

“I know I am, it's called an irrational fear for a reason.” She tried not to sound defensive. It seemed to set him on edge for some reason.

“What is there to fear here. You heard what she said. One relatively light set of human footsteps is not going to cause something this large to change in the slightest.” He grinned down at her, stopping next to the other two and dropping her unceremoniously onto the ground. She bounced on her ass once before settling, a loud swear echoing around them.

“You ass!” She took a swat at his legs, her hand hitting air as he stepped nimbly out of the way. She looked up, hoping for some defense from the other members of their party, but was met instead with Thor's openly amused face and Jane's shame faced grin. Both sets of shoulders were shaking with silent laughter until Thor lost his composure entirely and burst out into loud knee slapping laughter. Jane, to her credit, managed to keep her laughter to the quiet side of things and leaned down, helping Riley to her feet.

“I would scold him, but you did kind of need that.” Jane smiled, rubbing Riley's arm comfortingly as she tried to quiet her laughter. Riley, for her part, felt very proud of her self control, she had yet to slap any one of the three laughing individuals in front of her, and they were all within range. But the humor quickly left her as she felt what could only be described as a pulling feeling. Her expression must've shown her panic because Loki was beside her in a second, hands on her upper arms, drawing her eyes to his own.

“What is it?” His voice was quiet and serious. 

“I can't really tell. It's like a pulling feeling, like something is grabbing at me.” She tried to show it with her hands, feeling that her words were not adequate to describe the intensity of the sensation.

“Where is it coming from?” Jane spoke up, leaning in so as to be included in the conversation. 

“I can't really tell. I think it's coming from the center of that thing.” She pointed to the spring in the center of the basin, her hand visibly shaking as the feeling began to grow. “It's getting stronger.” She tried to keep the fear from creeping into her voice, but she couldn't quite quell the panic rising in her chest. 

“Riley, focus, look at me.” Loki's voice was like an ice cube against her skin, cooling and calming her, drawing her attention back to his eyes. She tried to breathe normally, calm her racing heart, all the while feeling lost in those startling green eyes. She felt a chill start at her arms, spreading up her shoulders and down into her chest, slowing its erratic beating to something more like she was used to. She drew in a shaking breath, the pulling seeming to dull against Loki's power.

“Thanks. You'll have to teach me how to do that sometime.” She smiled weakly, feeling weakness beginning to spread through her. She could hyperventilate faster than anyone else she knew. It had its perks when in unpleasant company, but more often than not, it was hindrance. 

“Do you think it's the portal?” Jane knelt with Riley as she sank to the ground, the strength in her legs suddenly gone.

“I don't know. All I know is that it felt like it wanted to swallow me whole, and it was definitely not nice, or natural.” She shuddered, trying not to focus as the pulling resurfaced, doubling in strength. She felt like she would go flying any second.

“I can sense it now.” Loki's head slowly turned, focusing on the spring as well. Steam had begun to rise from its surface, curling lazily through the air, increasing the humidity to almost a choking level.

“I think we should get out of here. If that thing is a geyser, it could shoot pretty far and I don't feel like taking a scalding hot shower right now.” Jane heaved on Riley's arm, helping her back to her feet as the ground below them began to rumble softly. They took off at a run, Riley quickly falling behind, her body still feeling the pull of whatever was inside the oddly colored water. She tried to ignore it, her mind screaming at her body to move, to run, but instead, she stopped and turned, her body losing all feeling as the pulling seemed to take her over. She tried to fight it, tried to turn and flee, but her feet began to carry her slowly toward the building cloud of steam. It wasn't until a pair of arms circled around her that her body seemed to return to her control.

“What are you doing?” Loki's voice was loud and angry, the shouts of both Thor and Jane echoed around them dimly and without preamble, Loki hauled her from her feet and took off at a run that seemed too fast to be possible. They reached the tree line just as the geyser blew, water shot into the air, raining down on even the furthest reaches of the basin, lukewarm droplets hitting them even under the cover of the trees. Loki set her on her feet, turning her roughly to face him, a scowl firmly planted on his face.

“What the hell were you doing?” He didn't quite shout, but it was loud enough to cause Riley to start and take a step back.

“I'm sorry. I couldn't control myself. It was like my body wouldn't listen to what I was telling it to do.” Riley tried to keep her calm, feeling the fear and adrenaline race through her system, setting her body to shaking and her eyes to watering. She didn't want to cry in front of them all, didn't want to look as weak and terrified as she felt on the inside. To his credit, Loki caught onto what had happened the second she spoke, encircling her in a warm embrace, his arms a solid frame for her to lean on as the tears fell down her face.

“I think it best we retire for the day. Perhaps You and I could return tomorrow Brother, to explore this area further.” Thor placed a hand on Riley's arm and turned to Jane, wrapping an arm protectively around her shoulders as if he worried she too would fall to whatever was resting in the water.

“Come, we will return to the house and you will rest.” Loki began to steer her away from the still erupting geyser, holding her firmly against his side. Riley wanted to say something, anything to lighten the mood around her. Once again, they had been making progress and she had to go and ruin it. Why was it always her? What did she lack that left her so susceptible to the influence of whatever was pulling the strings behind this whole thing?

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Malekith was pulled from his thoughts by the distinctive pulse of the portal. It had found a new source of energy, something to feed on. Soon it would begin to grow, manifest fully and spread, and then it would be time. This world would be pulled into the Convergence, just as all the worlds aligned in his own cosmos. Soon, all worlds would be wipes from both planes of existence, blessed darkness would sweep out from this place and engulf all things, leaving him to rule not one, but two separate dimensions of existence. His empire would finally be whole and perfect once again.

“Algrim, it is time.” He couldn't help the cold smile that spread across his face. The time had finally come. His first and most trusted commander walked slowly from his observation post.

“Do we have a location?” He looked out the same view port Malekith stood before, feeling the resonance of the portal but unable to pinpoint it's exact position.

“Simply go in that direction, it wants to be found.” Malekith turned from the window, issuing orders to the bridge crew in sharp commands before retiring. He had been expending a great amount of energy since they had been pulled into this new plane and needed to recuperate. He knew he would not attain his goal without a battle, and while the Thunder God was not his equal, he would prove a most interesting challenge. Algrim smiled, returning to his post and setting the ship for auto flight, it would alert them when they neared the portal, until then, there was nothing to do but watch, and wait.

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“Can you still feel it?” Loki appeared at her side, dressed in mortal clothes for the first time in days. It was a shock to her now, seeing him without his armor on was like seeing a shaved cat, it just didn't look right.

“Yeah, but it's not as strong.” She put a shaking hand to her lips, pulling the cigarette away and blowing the smoke out in a thin stream. She couldn't seem to stop trembling, no matter what she did to relax. Smoking wasn't doing it and not even her meditation play list had been able to quell the pit of fear in her belly.

“You are not being entirely honest with me Riley. What are you not saying?” Loki pinned her with his best stare, something that no one had been able to resist.

“I can't really put my finger on it. It feels like it knows where I am, like it's watching me or something. And I feel weak.” She shook her hand as she spoke, trying to regain strength in it as it shook.

“I think it would be best if you were to stop thinking for a while.” Loki stated, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. Riley was too preoccupied to notice that it was only a surface smile. His eyes reflected nothing but worry and a truly chilling sense of dread.

“Oh yeah? And how do you think I should go about doing that?” She looked over at him just as his head dipped down, his hand holding up a cold beer.

“I brought you a gift.” He smiled as she took it from him, watching her take a few long swigs. Perhaps if he kept her sufficiently distracted, she would be able to survive the next few days. He stood, pressing a small kiss to the top of her head, heading back into the house to have a word with his brother. 

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Links go to pictures of the geyser, you'll either have to copy paste or simply search Yellowstone National Park's Grand Prismatic Spring

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Grand_Prismatic_Spring_and_Midway_Geyser_Basin_from_above.jpg (long view)  
http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/images/wsci_03_img0324.jpg(top (down view)


	14. Battles and Banishments

“Riley! Riley wake up!” She slowly became aware of hands on her shoulders, shaking her hard enough to make her teeth chatter together. She reached out, trying to force away whoever the hands belonged to, only to be met with the familiar cool skin that could only belong to one person. 

“Loki? What's going on?” She opened her eyes, taking in the darkened cabin room and the almost panicked god leaning over her.

“You froze the whole cabin.” He gestured around the room, the sheen of ice just barely visible in the moonlight. “Was it another nightmare?” He made no effort to hide the concern in his voice.

“Yeah. It's Malekith. He's getting closer.” No sooner had the words left her mouth then a pressure wave hit the cabin, shattering the thin layer of ice into razor sharp crystals all around them. Riley screamed as several flew around her, cutting into the unprotected flesh of her arms and chest. Loki was quick to cover her as the actual glass from the windows followed suit, all the panes breaking into tiny shards and falling to the floor. 

“We must go. Do you have clothes in your bag?” Loki asked, sensing the rising panic. Riley nodded, unable to speak. He strode quickly about the room grabbing her bag, her purse, her shoes and the small collection of park maps she'd retrieved their first day in the cabin and threw it all into a larger sack he had apparently brought into the room with him. Riley had a moment of clear thought and wondered how he knew to bring it but the almost audible vibration of the walls and floor soon shook her from her thoughts and back into the present. She watched as Loki slung the bag over one shoulder and returned to the bed, lifting her as if she were no more than a child and moving quickly from the room. Just as they had exited the cabin, the whole thing seemed to bow inward and in seconds, it was gone. Behind it stood a great hulking shadow, all but its eyes obscured.

“Loki, we must go now.” Thor's voice boomed fro behind them, drawing Riley's attention to the shadowed mass of the god of thunder and the quivering shadow that must have been Jane. “We cannot protect them and fight him at the same time.” Riley heard Loki's growl rumble through his chest as he turned, setting her down on the ground.

“Follow my brother. I will handle this.” He let the sack slide from his shoulder, his first steps falling before it had even hit the earth. Riley opened her mouth to object, say something that might stop him, but an arm around her middle, hauling her away was all the answer she could give. She struggled for a moment, trying to twist out of his grasp.

“Riley, be calm. I will not leave him to battle that monster alone. I must get you to safety and then I will return here to aid him. My brother is more powerful than he seems, do no fear.” Thor set her down in the shadow of the treeline, next to his own shaken love and dropped the bag at her feet, letting the fabric fall open to reveal all the Loki had brought. Inside was not only a spare outfit, but also a small sack, her rune stones as well as the athame that had been on her altar. She looked up, catching his eye and nodding, watching as he turned back up the path they way they had come.

“Okay Jane, I need you to be completely honest with me. Can you find that portal and close it on your own?” She looked over to the terrified scientist, giving her the same hard glare Loki had been known to give her when she was succumbing to panic. It seemed to work well enough as Jane turned to focus on her, her eyes slowly returning to something similar to reason.

“I don't know. I mean, I could try. Why? What are you gonna do?” She fixed Riley with a suspicious look, her stance moving to stop the younger woman should she need to.

“Look. I have something Malekith apparently needs, perhaps it's because of this power thing I've got in my head. I don't know. All I know is that both Loki and Thor are in danger right now because of me. I have to help them and I'm no use to you with this whole portal business. So I'm gonna leave you this,” she pulled a large hunting knife from the bag, “and go help them. If all works out well, we'll all be back and both of them will be yelling at me for being stupid and we can all go stop this thing together. If it doesn't go well...well, just get to the portal and make sure Malekith can't get back through. We may not be able to survive this, but we can sure as hell make him hurt before he wins.” She nodded, grabbing the bag and disappearing into the tree line.

She stopped for a moment to collect her thoughts, shrugging out of the nightgown she'd been wearing and beginning to redress in the outfit she'd always been sure to keep packed. It was a pair of simply black pants, tight to her legs, a tank top, a black cotton long sleeved shirt and a simple leather jacket. She dressed quickly, pulling on her boots and belt, sticking the athame through and hanging the bag of rune stones off the end of the dagger's hilt. She took a deep breath, readying herself for what would most likely be the end of her life and headed toward the sounds of battle.

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Jane watched Riley's form slowly bleed into the surrounding foliage and looked to the knife on the ground. She picked it up, it felt heavy and solid in her hand. She'd never fought anything before in her life, let alone cut or killed someone, but she added it to her own bag none the less. She looked inside the canvas sack she'd dragged from the cabin, running from the slowly encroaching ice that had begun to slowly eat away at her bedroom. Inside was all she would need to close the portal. She took a moment to look through it, making sure that nothing had been damaged by the ice or the subsequent running and dropping the bag had endured. She sighed in relief as she saw everything was still in working order and stood, turning away from the sounds of battle and heading off at a quick walk down the path they'd taken the day before. It was now or never, either her theory would work, or she would get sucked through a portal into space. 

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The ship moved slowly in the heavy atmosphere of the planet. Malekith could feel the portal, calling out to him, leading him home to his victory. He watched the world crawl away below him, blissfully unaware of his presence, unaware of the fate about to befall all the life upon it. He would bring them all a glorious death and rebirth into the darkness he so loved. But first he would have to cross through into his own world and finally put to rest the ages old rivalry between his people and those pompous fools known as the Knights of Asgard. He would massacre their forces, leaving a very unlucky few alive to watch the end of their pathetic little world, and then, when all resistance had been snuffed out, he would claim his victory. He couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face as he watched the shimmering on the horizon grow wider and wider. Soon, so soon, he would once again rule supreme in the darkness.

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Riley crept slowly around the edge of the clearing where the cabin once stood. Inside it now stood three figures, the silhouette of both brother and the hulking mass of their enemy. None had apparently moved since she left. It looked as if they were all waiting for something to happen, perhaps for the other party to make the first move. The air felt tense, like a taut bow string, ready to fire at the slightest provocation. Riley felt hard pressed to hold back, wanting nothing more than to charge into the fray and give the monster a new target to focus on. It was at that moment that she felt a strange cold beginning to creep up her body from her left hip. It was the athame. It had become frosted over. The bag of stones hanging from its hilt was glowing faintly blue, a strange kind of mist wafting around it in lazy currents.

She took hold of the bag, pulling it from the athame and holding it closer to her face. It smelled of winter and ice, the old smell of her incense almost fully eclipsed by the new scent. It gave her a strange sense of comfort, this new scent, like she was home, and she found that as she breathed it in, her nerves calmed and her senses heightened. She was no longer afraid, no longer half blind in the darkness of the night. She was the hunter, the warrior, and she knew exactly what to do.

She reached inside the bag, pulling out one of the now faintly glowing stones. It was like an ice cube in her hand, but she found that the cold was no longer a bother to her. It felt like home now, the frigid piece of stone in her palm, merely an extension of the power that she could feel beginning to surge within her. She breathed slowly, gathering her power into her hand, suffusing the stone with even more icy energy, feeding it all the rage and misery she had been holding back for days. She pushed away the tears and fear, the sense of overwhelming oblivion that had been hanging over her head. She cast it all out into the little piece of ice in her hand, reveling in how quickly it was sucked away and stored.

When she had finished, truly prepared her weapon, she stilled, lining up the shot so as not to miss. She pivoted her body, facing the hulking mass of black armor and chiton and took a breath. She reared her arm back, coiling the muscle and sinew like the spring in a gun and fired the stone directly at the monster. She directed all her fury and pain into the stone, pushing it further and faster than any human could ever possibly throw. She watched in satisfaction as it made contact, the ice sticking and beginning to spread. A pain began to register dully in her shoulder, her body rejecting the new power she had found, but she paid it no mind, moving quickly to a new position as the battle between the three men began.

Loki and Thor both charged forward as soon as the ice bomb hit, hoping to take advantage of the momentary distraction. The monster, for its part, did not seem even remotely shaken. The ice continued to creep over its body, no doubt burning even through the armor it wore, but it simply pushed into motion, meeting the brothers in a head on collision of pinwheeling limbs and fierce blows.

Riley continued to circle, lobbing stone after stone at the creature. The ice stuck, and seemed to spread, but the creature simply powered through it, pushing past the pain she knew it must be feeling. As she moved she noticed an almost immeasurable slowing of its pace. This was the sign she'd been waiting for. She gathered the rest of the stones in one hand, only five were left. The part of her that was still wholly human screamed at her to stop, to save at least one, to hold onto the past and remember the lessons she'd learned there, but she would need every last one if her plan was to work. She took a breath, giving her family a silent apology and thanks before throwing the fistful of stones high over the clearing. They fell silently back to earth, arranging themselves in the air so that they fell in the shape of a star around the monster.

Loki noticed just as the energy field snapped up around the creature, holding it in place. He looked over to the edge of the clearing where Riley had emerged, a grin on her face, her steps measured and slow.

“I told you to stay behind.” He tried to keep the impressed tone from his voice, even with his power, she was a remarkable woman.

“No, you said stay with your brother. I am with your brother.” She grinned from where she stood, shoulder to elbow with Thor. Loki let out a short laugh, turning to get a better look at the trap she'd set. It wouldn't hold for long, the creature was too powerful for that, but it would give them a moment to breathe and regroup, which was something they sorely needed. Both brothers turned, bowing their heads so as to include her in the impromptu planning session. She grinned good naturedly through Loki's whispered admonition, all the while trying to think of a way to bring down the creature threatening the ones she loved. It was at that moment that she heard a sound that stopped her heart. It was the pounding of footsteps, heavy running footsteps. She looked up just in time to see the monster raise its sword, the point aimed directly at Loki's exposed back.

She had never moved so fast in her entire life. Before either brother could react she was behind them, arms spread wide, spires of ice shooting out from her feet like pikes, spearing through the creature like spears. He managed to push forward a few more steps, the momentum of his strike carrying the blade down into Riley's shoulder with a wet thud before one of the spires reached his eye. His body twitched once and went still, dark blood seeping down over the faintly blue ice, staining it a strange navy color.

Time seemed to speed up again, both brothers turning to see the aftermath of Riley's quick thinking. Loki was the first to move, catching Riley as she began to fall toward the ground. Thor was not far behind, kneeling on her other side, hands hovering over her strangely blue skin, unsure of how to proceed.

“Did...did I...get him?” Her voice sounded weak, even to her, thick and heavy with pain. She tried to breathe through it like she had always been taught, but everything hurt. Her muscles were screaming, protesting the exertion they had been forced to endure. Her heart was racing, beating wildly against the cage of her ribs. Her lungs burned from the cold air around them and every joint she had was aching and swollen. But the stab wound was the worst. It sent searing pain through her whole torso with every labored breath. She would have screamed, if she had been able to gather the breath, but all that would come out was a pitiful whine as she screwed her eyes shut against the onslaught of sensation.

“Yes Riley, he's gone, we're safe.” Thor put a hand to her uninjured shoulder, careful not to jar her. Despite his carefulness, another soft cry issued from her still blue lips. “We have to get this out of her. Are you prepared my brother?” Thor moved, gripping the hilt of the sword with a sure hand. Loki nodded, his hand changing smoothly from pale peach to soft blue. Thor wrenched up on the hilt of the sword, pulling it cleanly from the wound which began to bleed profusely almost immediately. Loki placed a hand to it, the area changing to the same blue hue as ice began to form inside the wound. This earned the first true scream from Riley as she arched up off his lap, her body blindly trying to flee what it saw as another attack.

“Riley! I need you to remain still. This is the only treatment we can give you at the moment.” Loki held her in place as much as possible, his hand never leaving her shoulder, the ice creeping further and further into her body until it had sealed both sides of the wound. Her body fell limply into his lap as his hand moved away and Thor knelt over her, wrapping the shredded ends of his cloak around the ice bandage, tying it off in a sling like support. “Riley, can you stand? We must hurry to the portal before Malekith reaches it.” Loki looked down at her clouded eyes. She was barely conscious, her mind fogged by pain and shock. But something deep down seemed to shimmer and, despite all logic, she nodded slowly, stumbling to her feet.

“I'm alright. We have to find Jane. I sent her on to the portal on her own.” She swayed on her feet as she spoke, her body bowing and swaying as if trying to get away from itself. Loki reached out a hand to steady her, only to catch her as she pitched forward. He sighed, trying, and failing, to hide the grin spreading across his face. Even a mortal as impressive as she was could not defy their body for long.

“I will carry her, you go ahead.” He hoisted her up into his arms, holding her across his torso like one would a child. He made sure his grip was secure before setting out after his brother. He caught up within moments, both figures barely a blur against the black night around them. They reached the basin just as Jane cleared the tree line. She was panting, clearly having run the whole way, clutching the stitch in her side as she turned.

“Oh god! What happened?” She was at Riley's side in a flash, her hands moving over the unconscious woman's prone form.

“She fought bravely, but pushed herself too far.” Thor turned to Loki, inviting him to finish the explanation, but the trickster seemed content to simply stare out over the basin in sullen silence. All he could think is that her present danger was his doing. Though it had been unintentionally, he had taken the damn stones from the altar. He had been the one to create the link between them. True, she had reached out for his power and took it into herself of her own free will, but if he'd had the sense to leave well enough alone, she would not be in this danger now. He looked out over the barren land, sensing more than seeing the portal before them. It was like so many he had traveled before, so like the small gateway he had opened on that coronation day so long ago. 

“Loki, we must keep moving. Jane thinks she can close the portal but there is bad news.” Thor drew his attention from his turbulent thoughts and brought his focus squarely onto the petite scientist he'd come to have a grudging respect for.

“What is this “bad news”? It can hardly be worse that what we currently face.” He tried to sound nonchalant, but his silver tongue seemed to be growing heavier with each word.

“I know I can close the portal with what I have here. But I have to be on this side of it to do that. Which mean I, and whoever stays with me, will be stuck on this side of the portal forever. After I close it, there won't be any opening it again.” She tried very hard not to look sad about that fact, clearly sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that Thor would be going back to the other universe. 

“You cannot close it from the other side?” Loki tried to keep his tone neutral, suddenly aware of the choice that was before him. Jane just shook her head, her expression apologetic. He nodded slowly, kneeling down and lifting Riley's body to his chest. Jane nodded, moving quickly out over the basin. Loki moved to follow, his steps slow and measured until he became aware of a pulling sensation in his arms. Riley's body was beginning to twist and bend, trying to get out of his arms and toward the steaming spring at the center of the basin. He held her fast against him, unwilling to part with her a moment before he had to. The closer they got to the prismatic water, the stronger the pulling became, and it was then that he became aware of a shift in the air.

“Loki hurry!” Jane shouted, waving him closer. Malekith had arrived.

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He could feel it, so close now. The trees swayed below him, a vast sea of green except for in one area, a bald scar on the land with a brilliantly colored center. This was where he would have his final test and pass through to his own world. This is where he would release the Aether. The Convergence was almost complete, the worlds hummed with the energy he would soon harness. He watched as several small figures hurried out of the tree line. He smiled. They would not be able to stop him this time.

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The ship shimmered into visibility over the basin, moving slowly toward the portal like a pendulous omen. The clock was ticking faster than they could move. They all knew it, even as Jane worked furiously at her control panel. There simply wasn't enough time.

“We have to go now! We can't close it in time!” She hated saying it, but it was the only hope they had left. It was either jump through now or let Malekith go through first and come home to a blackened ruin of a universe. Thor nodded, taking hold of her and preparing to take flight. Before anyone could move, Riley's body was ripped from Loki's hands by an unseen force and pulled limply through the shimmering distortion. She was gone before either brother could react. Loki leapt forward, his body passing through the distortion as well. 

“We have to hurry, we have no clue where that thing comes out at!” Jane shouted, holding tight to Thor's shoulders as he took off, the distortion swallowing them as well.

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Malekith smiles coldly as he watched the figures disappear one by one into the portal. So they wanted to continue this battle on more familiar ground then. Well, it made little difference to him where they died. He closed his eyes as the ship entered the portal, feeling the pull of it all around him and knowing that when that feeling receded, he would have his victory.


	15. Final Battles and Tragedy

The feeling of impact shook Riley to wakefulness. Her body ached all over, more so than it had at the cabin. She gasped in a breath, promptly choking on the dust that was swirling all around her. She curled in on herself as she coughed, the motion jarring every muscle in her body, causing them to scream out simultaneously in protest. She groaned softly, struggling into a sitting position, the world spinning behind her closed eyes. 

It took a moment for everything to feel still again, for the spinning feeling to leave her. She waited a moment more before opening her eyes. She wished she hadn't. The view that met her was bleak, to say the least. Everything was gray and barren as far as the eye could see. The ground, the sky, the mountains rising in the distance, everything was simply gray. The earth below her felt dead. There was no variation in the texture, just sandy and hard, no dips, no rises, just a flat dead thing under her hand. 

She let out a slow breath, feeling despair and hopelessness rising up inside her. She had no idea where she was, if the others were alive, if they could get to her, even if they were alive. For all she knew, this could be Earth. She could be sitting in the exact same spot where she'd lost consciousness. What if they'd failed? What if this was what the whole universe was like now?

She felt the beginning of hysteria coming on and shook herself. Now was not the time to be falling apart. She had no facts whatsoever and it would do her no good to spend her time on suppositions and histrionics. She needed to get up, get moving, find out at least where she was and if she was relatively safe. There would be time for panic and fear later. She nodded softly to herself, ignoring the pounding headache, and got slowly to her feet. Things didn't look any better from this perspective, but she pushed herself to start moving all the same.

She walked for what felt like forever, her eyes constantly scanning the horizon for any signs of life or change. The sameness of her surroundings made her feel as if she was merely walking in place and she began to find it harder and harder to keep moving. Maybe she wasn't really moving. Maybe she was trapped in some kind of illusion. Maybe she was dead and this was hell. She laughed at that thought. She'd never believed in hell, but if it had existed, this would be hers. The laugh shook her shoulder, reminding her of the last battle she'd engaged in with her little hodge podge family. It had been her finest moment. The stabbing had really hurt, but she'd protected those she loved, and that had been enough for her.

She trudged on, the pain in her body slowly building, fogging her mind, turning her sure footed steps into a zombie like plodding that had her tripping over every small clod of sandy dirt that made its way under her feet. And then, finally, she saw something that woke her from her stupor, a ledge. It was like a shining jewel to her pain fogged mind. Something different! She all but ran to the edge, hoping to see more differences, maybe even people, but she was unprepared for the sight that met her.

Thor and Loki were engaged in all out combat with a large squad of dark elves. Malekith was boarding his ship, leaving all but a few of his followers behind in the barren waste to die at the hands of the brothers. She felt her chest tighten as his power hit her. It was massive! How she hadn't sensed it before was a mystery to her, but there was no denying that he'd gotten everything he'd been after. But then, why had he been pursuing her all this time? She stood at the top of the ledge, lost in thought, unaware of the figure at the mouth of the ship, turning, fixing his eyes on her.

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Malekith couldn't help but smile. He had finally become one with his true power. The Aether flowed swiftly in his veins, charging every cell with its power. But there was a nagging sensation at the back of his mind. Something he'd forgotten. It was then that the scent hit him. It was so familiar somehow but he couldn't quite place it. It was something he desperately needed, he knew that much. He turned, his eyes scanning the surface of his home planet, trying to find the source of the scent. 

His eyes trailed over his soldiers, bravely fighting the enemy to allow him time to escape. He didn't understand where this sensation was coming from. He knew it was not from his men and neither of the Asgardian filth had anything he would ever want. The human woman had been divested of all the power she'd stolen and there was no one else on this world. He allowed his eyes to move mindlessly over the surrounding land, perhaps there was something he was missing, something that would assure his victory even more so than it already was.

It was then that his gaze lit upon the lone figure standing at the top of the bluff. A small figure, trembling and pale. She looked to be damaged, bruised and bleeding from a shoulder wound. Her face was set in an expression of grim determination, the edges of her lips and eyes rimmed with a frosty blue. Those eyes, such fierce power was in them. It was those eyes that made him remember. The memories of his time in the other realm rushed to the forefront of his mind. How could he have forgotten about her, and that delicious power she had. 

He turned to the men that had followed him and barked an order, sending them around the fray and up the hill. They would bring her to him and he would have the ability to not only control the darkness, but to become one with it, he would be a god!

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Riley looked down at the rocky hill below her. It was steep and sharp with boulders jutting out every few feet or so. If she tried to climb down, she would mostly likely end up dead, but Loki and Thor were outnumbered and she knew that she could help if she could only reach them. Her eyes moved over the outline of the bluff she was on, looking for an easier way down. She saw a smooth slope off to her right, just as steep but free of crags and spires that might impale her if she slipped. But there was another problem. Another squad of dark elves, the ones that had been with Malekith, were making their way over to it. 

She let out a sharp breath, suppressing the fear and blatant irritation that was rising up inside her. If she was going to survive this, she needed to remain calm and collected. She had the power, at least, she hoped she still did, and she knew that if she could just focus, she could at least clear a path for herself. She didn't wait for them to come to her. She silenced her mind, reaching down into that place where her energy had always been and found the bitter cold reaching back up to her. She couldn't help the smile that spread across her face as she readied herself. These guys were going down.

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Loki had never felt so elated before. He was free of Odin's ridiculous prison, soon he would be free of his brother's suffocating presence and from there it was simply a matter of playing a few tricks and he would finally have the throne he'd always longed for. All that was left was for him to have a little accident.

He rounded on yet another dark elf, his daggers dancing in the wan light that seemed near constant on this wasted rock. He had to make it look convincing or Thor would never believe it. His brother may be an idiot when compared to his massive intellect, but he was by no means a fool. A surprise attack seemed most likely to be believed, it was hard for even one so skilled as himself to keep an eye on every opponent in a melee of this size. Yes, that would do nicely. 

He grinned, preparing the illusions that would gain him his freedom, when a sharp spike of icy power pulled his attention upward. There was a woman there, battered and bleeding, her skin faintly blue, though she appeared to be a simple mortal. She was facing off against at least six dark elf soldiers and while it couldn't be said that she was doing well, she was certainly giving them a hard fight. Something about her was so familiar, he knew her, though he was sure they'd never met. He knew that she would be laughing right now, facing down death with a smile so as to hide the terror she was truly feeling. She knew that even though she was in pain, she wouldn't stop until she died. He knew that she would expend every ounce of power she had to protect those she cared about, even though it hurt her even to use his power. 

At that thought, his whole mind froze. His power, she was using his power. How had she gained his power? How had he known that the power she was using was his own? He saw rune stones, glowing faintly in moonlight against snow. The memory of a small mortal female yelling at him, her hands bandaged, pinpricks of blood seeping through where shards of ice had cut their way out of her skin. Riley. Her name was Riley. The battle sped up again, the memories rushing back to him as he dodged the attack that had been meant to “kill” him. He had to help her. But just as he moved to advance on the ledge, a sled of ice raced downward, carrying a laughing Riley away from the six confused soldiers.

She slid to a halt barely three feet from him, her honest grin turning to a grimace as her body bowed inward. Her strength was failing her. She looked up, her eyes already beginning to mist over, and smiled as his face swam into her vision. She took a step forward, the ice melting instantly, only to stumble and fall against him.

“Found you.” She laughed, her whole body trembling.

“I was unaware I was lost.” His voice was soft as he spoke, lacking its usual snark. She laughed softly, gasping audibly as the action brought intense pain.

“Malekith still wants what you gave me. He won't leave without it. We can use that.” Her voice was soft, barely above a whisper, but her mind was still clear enough to formulate a plan. Malekith needed to be on Earth to unleash the Aether to it's full extent, and he was running out of time to get there. He wouldn't leave without claiming the power that Riley had taken from Loki, which meant he would never make it to Earth, if they could stall him long enough.

“No, absolutely not. We will find another way.” Loki held her tightly, feeling the sum of all their shared affection crash over him in one wave. He felt a hand on his cheek, it was cold, too cold. He looked down at her, the blue was creeping further across her skin.

“Don't argue with me Silver Tongue, we don't have the time.” She smiled softly, pulling herself away from him and moving off toward the fray. He moved to follow her, intent of keeping her from this idiocy, only to be faced with the six soldiers that had finally managed their way down. Perhaps there was a way to combine his goals and keep the girl all at once. He felt a smile pull across his face as he squared his shoulders. 

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Riley stumbled around the edge of the battle, her body becoming increasingly difficult to move. She knew she didn't have long left. She had pushed her body too far and now that power that had supported and protected her was turning on her, devouring her energy and with it, her life. She didn't mind this fate. She knew there was no way she could ever return to anything close to a normal life now. The portal was closed, her world in ruins, her friends and family gone. All she had left was the family she'd made for herself, and so long as they were safe, she could die happy.

Malekith's ship came into view, the monster himself standing at the base of the landing ramp, looking smug and self assured, just as he'd always appeared in her visions of him. Riley felt anger suffuse her being. This was the bastard that had ravaged her world, made her a victim several times over, taken her family from her and doomed her to die on a barren, god forsaken rock in a dimension that wasn't even supposed to be real. This was the bastard that had started it all and ruined any chance she'd ever have and being happy and normal. 

The blast of icy wind that came rolling off of her was enough to reach the battle site, sending a few of the soldiers to heir knees. Malekith barely moved, the smug expression remaining firmly in place. He knew she was no match for him. He knew that she would expend herself in a futile gesture of revenge and then he would have all he could ever want. But the one thing he didn't know, the one thing that would prove to be too much even for him, was about to happen on the battlefield.

Riley felt the blow before she heard it. It was like someone had suddenly taken her heart away. It hadn't been ripped out or stabbed or anything so dramatic as all that, it was simply suddenly missing. She turned, her mind screaming at her not to look, not to make it real, even though she already knew what it was. She saw him fall. She saw the sword pulled free from his back. Everything seemed to slow down, the whole universe ground to a halt as she watched his body land, a small cloud of dust moving to momentarily obscure him from her view. She watched as the remaining elves moved in on both brothers, intent on finishing the task they'd been set. It was too much. It was just too much. It was one loss too many for her mind to handle.

She felt the scream building in her chest, it was a physical weight against her battered ribs. She knew she was going to die, but her one solace had been that he would live. He would go on to accomplish other things. Love other women. Perhaps even find happiness with someone else. But that was all gone now and with it went the last shred of sanity she had. She fell to her knees, the scream ripping its way out of her throat, bringing a explosion of ice with it. The moment her knees hit the ground, the ice began to spread, racing over the ground, sharp spires erupting from it to skewer any careless enough to be nearby. With the spires came blast waves powerful enough to knock even Malekith from his feet.

The storm continued to build, the wind whipping the soldiers up off their feet and onto the spires. It was as if the very spirit of all that Loki's power had been was unleashed in full on this one little spot of Svartalfheim. What little amount of light there ever was on the planet was obscured, sleet fell in stinging sheets from the blackened sky and the ice continued to spread, felling all in its path. And then, just as suddenly as it had come, it was over. The screaming had stopped, Riley lay motionless in the middle of the blasted icy landscape, her power utterly spent.

Malekith approached her slowly, unsure of what to expect after the outburst but she was simply a mortal now. The power that had been humming within her was gone, replaced with the same quietness all mortals shared. She had spent it all in one last attack, one last attempt to end the lives of those who had taken the one she loved. He snarled, kicking her over to the defeated Asgardians before boarding his ship. He had to be quick if he was to achieve his ultimate goal.

Riley lay still, her mind a blank sheet of white pain. He was gone. Loki was gone and she was left alone, again, in a world she didn't understand and to which she didn't belong. She had never felt so empty as she did in that moment. Her life seemed to shrink away to a single point of pure white agony and it was only the shaking of her body that roused her from her stupor. It was Thor, shaking her to wakefulness and urging her to move. Jane was there as well, trying to pull her away from the body she had subconsciously curled against.

“We can't just leave him here.” Her voice sounded small even to her, small and weak and she knew that they weren't going to listen, even before the words had left her mouth. Neither spoke, simply looking between her and her fallen lover. Thor put a hand to her uninjured shoulder and shook his head, scooping her into his arms and carrying her away when it looked as if she might continue to argue.


	16. A Dream and A Revelation

The past two months had passed in a haze. Riley had been there, at the last show down between Malekith and Thor and had felt all but useless. Her power was gone, spent on the battlefield after Loki's death. She was normal now, normal and miserable. She'd sat by, waiting for an order from Jane to push a button, one button, that was all she was good for now. But she'd gotten to see the bastard suffer and die, and that was something. 

Since that day, she'd lived a relatively normal life. She'd been interrogated by some organization called S.H.I.E.L.D about her sudden appearance, which had been exhausting and infuriating. She'd had documents created that proved she existed. Driver's License, Social Security card, Passport, even an up to date school transcript had all magically appeared over night, along side a full life of stories, grades, first dates, first times and even a failed engagement to someone named Tom. It was like she'd always been here, except she hadn't.

It was something that she felt very keenly for the first couple of weeks, a sense of apartness, like she was a spectator at a very elaborate play but never a player. She watched people go about their lives, simply accepting what had happened, like aliens trying to destroy the universe was an every day occurrence, but none of it felt real to her. She knew she should feel grateful to Thor and Jane for pulling her away from that place, for allowing her the chance to live and heal, but she just couldn't. She wasn't living, she didn't have it in her to even try. Everything that had made her who she was, her attitude, her town, her smoking habit, it was all gone. All of it died with him on that barren wasteland.

She had made peace with the fact that she would never go home. She wasn't even sure at this point what home really was. She'd always imagined home as this place that was warm and safe, like a big down comforter that you could just wrap yourself in and forget the world outside. But it had never been that, not really, not for her. Even when her family had been alive, home had been a place where she was just existing, waiting for something to happen next. Well she had finally found what she was waiting for. Now home was cool skin, continuous verbal sparring and the touch of ice in her soul. Her home was gone and she was left deadened to the wonders of the world and to the comfort of the friends she had met since returning to Earth.

She did a good job of hiding it during the day. She participated in all the conversations, sat down to group meals, laughed at the jokes and stories they all shared. But everyone always seemed to shy away from the one subject she wanted to talk about. His name was never even mentioned. She thought she would have a kindred spirit in Jane for the first few days, Thor had returned to Asgard with the promise of being back on Earth “as soon as possible”, but had yet to reappear. But no sooner had Darcy mentioned it than he was appearing on the terrace outside. The two had been inseparable since. It would've been adorable if it wasn't so painful to watch. Seeing them together reminded her of the last few days they'd spent in her world. It had been a mad rush to defeat an evil elf from space, but it had also been wonderful. They'd all sat down together, laughed and talked, ribbed each other about their separate romances, like a family. 

This was how she lived, though existed would be a better word, stumbling through the days with little drive to do much of anything. She was paid generously by S.H.I.E.L.D to keep her mouth shut, not spill anything that could affect the way their dimension developed, so there was no need for a job, and she never seemed to feel up to simply going out and exploring. As such, her day to day activities consisted of going and getting various food stuffs of technological odds and ends for Jane and smoking on the terrace under a threadbare blanket Jane had given her as a means of comfort. It was apparently something that Jane had had since she was little, a gift from a relative that was now dead. Riley liked it because it was the same shade of green that she'd come to associate with Loki. It was like he was still there in some small way.

But one night, something changed.

She'd been having a nightmare, something that used to frighten her, but it was so commonplace now that she was able to sleep right through them. It was a replay of the events on Svartalfheim, but something was different. The scene was exactly how she remembered it with one major difference. The ice was gone. The ground was wet, and a body was missing. She felt herself moving through the dreamscape, her eyes taking in all the little differences. The earth had shifted, some of it blown away, other parts clumped together to form little hills. The bodies remained as they had been, with the exception of the body she most hated seeing. Loki's corpse wasn't were she'd left it. In its place was a completely dry patch. It was like he'd simply fazed out of existence.

As this thought passed through her mind, she felt a hand rest lightly on right shoulder. It felt so familiar, so heart-breakinly cold that she almost pulled herself from the dream entirely.

“If I turn around and you aren't there, I will go crazy. Just a warning.” She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as she turned her body, her eyes lighting on the face she'd been longing to see for almost two months. There were no thoughts in her head as she jumped into his arms, pressing her lips to his in a kiss that felt like the breath of life. He was solid and he was there, holding her and kissing her right back. Long before she was ready, he pulled away from the kiss, setting her back on her feet, a gentle smile on his face.

“Hello, my little witch. I am sorry to have been away for so long, but I've been rather busy taking control of my realm. But now, I have everything in place. You still have something of mine. Something I have been trying to get back but it would seem that you are too stubborn to let it go. As such, I see only on solution, and that is to have you close to me, at all times, which is something you can not do while stuck here on Midgard.” He paced around her as he spoke, his eyes never leaving her body, trailing up and down her, memorizing every curve. His expression was outwardly cool, regal and detached, but Riley could see behind his mask to the barely contained need. He'd missed her as much as she'd missed him.

“Well I would love to fix that for you, your highness, but I can't fly and even if I could, I certainly can't breathe in space. So unless you have a space car I can borrow, I think we have a problem.” She grinned, trying to match his business like manner and failing miserably.

“Do you have such little faith in my abilities Riley? Truly I am stung. I believe I already stated that all the arrangements had been made. Now all that is left for you to do, is wake up, and come find me.” He stopped circling, drawing her close as he spoke, his hand finding hers and squeezing it tightly. But then he was gone, the weight of his hand still pressing on hers until she realized something was in it.

She looked down to see a rune stone, glowing bright blue and very cold against her skin. She gripped it with a whoop of laughter, closing her eyes tightly as a smile stretched her face, willing herself to wake up.

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Loki felt his face pull up into the first true smile he'd felt in months. He thought he would be able to survive without his little mortal, simply knowing she was alive and well had seemed like more than a prize when he'd enacted his place. But the throne had seemed so pointless afterward. He found himself spending more and more time alone in the library or his chambers, researching things that, at first, made no sense. It wasn't until the dreams started that he truly began to understand what his heart had been trying to tell him.

It was always the same. He was standing on the battlefield, watching from a distance as his doppleganger battled the horde of elves, Riley was moving as quickly as she could toward Malekith, that same stubborn look on her face that she'd worn so many times when facing off against him. He knew she was no match for him, powered as he was with the Aether, but there was no way to stop her. Only one thing would prove a sufficient distraction from her goal of protection, and that was the death of the thing she was trying to protect. So he'd decided to simply stick to his original plan. He would feign death, disappear, and she would live on without him, a normal mortal life, something she deserved after everything he had laid at her door.

But it hadn't gone as planned. She was supposed to mourn him and then return to Midgard, retaining his power as well as the link that bound them together. He should have known better than to think it would be that simple, nothing with Riley ever was. But he was so consumed with the idea that he was right, that his plan would work, that when Riley fell to her knees, he almost fell victim to the frozen hell she'd unleashed. For a moment he was proud, for her to accomplish something like that and still be breathing was no mean feat, but as he reached down to access their link, he found it had been severed. Riley had expended too much power, ripped the tether that held them together. It was a blow he had not been prepared to deal with. But he'd already put his plan into motion, so it was, with a heavy heart, he assumed his place in Odin's guise. 

But now he could put that nightmare to rest. He'd found a way to have his mortal and his throne. He would have her by his side again if he had to burn all of Asgard to get her. As luck would have it, that would not be necessary.

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Riley dressed quickly and quietly, sliding on leggings and boots and an oversized green sweater to protect her from the night's chill and scrawling a small not to Jane. She felt it was a little silly, telling the woman not to worry when she might well never be coming back, but she owed her at least that much after all she'd done. She moved around the kitchen and livingroom, gathering up her purse, keys, incase this whole thing was just a fever dream brought on by bad beer, and all the packs of cigarettes she could find. She shoved them all into a larger bag that also contained a small camping blanket and some food and water and was out the door like a shadow.

She turned around at the bottom of the stairs, looking around at the midnight scene around her. It was dead quiet, nothing seemed to be moving, no wind blew, the stars stilled their twinkling, even the sounds of traffic further in the city were muted. It was like the universe was rooting for her, holding its breath until she reached her goal. But where was he. He'd said come find him, but where was she supposed to look? 

A spark of light caught her eye. A green light amidst a sea of red ones. She felt her heart start pounding, reaching down into her legs and taking control. Logically she knew it was probably just a malfunction in the light, but why just that one? She shook her head, she was taking orders from a dream version of her not quite boyfriend the God of Mischief who was, in point of fact, dead, and there fore should not be giving orders to anyone. She could hardly indulge in logic now. She followed the street to the light, crossing the deserted road and heading down the cross street until another light “malfunctioned”, leading her further away from the center of town.

She continued like this for a while, following the lights, expecting him around every corner, until she ran out of lights. She stood still at a road. The one she had been following dead ended onto the one she was currently staring at. It had a left and a right, but no through, and no more lights to tell her which way to turn. But there had to be a clue. He wouldn't have led her here if there wasn't something that would eventually reach him. She studied the signs, each bearing a town name and an arrow. Neither was particularly special, neither sign had any kind of distinguishing feature that would denote it as special. Was it a word clue? Maybe one of them was an anagram for something. She stared at them for so long that her eyes began to water, at least, that was what she was telling herself. In reality, she was crying simply because she'd fooled herself into thinking that this was real. She'd been out here for hours, the sun as on its way up and she would have to explain to Jane and Darcy where she'd been, which would, no doubt, lead to a “girl's day” to help her feel better, which would of course only accomplish making her feel cranky and tired. She sighed, resigning herself to the truth as she turned back the way she'd come. She stared down at the road as she began to walk, only to run smack dab into a solid chest, cool and familiar.

“Found me.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks in advance for kudos and comments. See you guys in the next one!


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